John Irving

John Irving has spent most of his corporate career in Asia, his last full-time role was as Managing Director for Diageo Asia Venture markets.

Prior to this he had many assignments in Senior GM roles with Diageo, including Indonesia and Jamaica. He joined Diageo from the Guinness business following the integration with United Distillers and then Grand Metropolitan, and has been involved in many organisational transformations as Diageo acquired other big brands as part of an industry consolidation in the late 90s and early 2000s. He has served on a diverse set of company boards and was a member of key Diageo Brand Executive Groups and Cultural Development projects.

He has always maintained a strong focus on coaching and mentoring, and many of his former people have gone on to hold senior roles within Diageo and beyond. He has a diverse set of commercial skills which he currently applies in his consulting business, specialising in route-to-market strategies and brand development services across Southeast Asia.

He lives in Perth, Australia, is married to Clara, and has two sons and a daughter living on three different continents. His main hobbies are playing the guitar, travelling, playing golf (badly) and watching sport.