John was born and bred in Mayfield growing up on the family sheep and cropping farm which he worked on after leaving Timaru Boys High School.

John had stints overseas in 1985 and 1992 playing rugby union along the way. Upon returning to New Zealand John worked as a contractor for seven years and then returned to farming for another nine years.

John began his stock agent career over 15 years ago with PWA before joining Rural Livestock in 2022. John enjoys working with farmers as well as the stock work that comes with it. He believes that being an agent is 90% about the people and 10% about the product.

Chook has coached rugby union locally and has two daughters Laura and Megan.