John Harris took over as Chair of British Curling on an interim basis in May 2019 and, following Robin Niven’s appointment to that role in February 2020 he remained on the Board as a non-executive director.
On his recruitment to the Board he brought leadership and significant experience of the British sporting landscape through his role as Chair of British Shooting from 2011 to 2020.
He was appointed as the first independent chairman for British Shooting and during his tenure. the shooting NGB won six medals at Olympic and Paralympic Games, while integrating the Olympic and Paralympic performance programmes under one performance director and also establishing the British Shooting Academy and Pathway model.
A chartered chemical engineer, his career in the chemical, oil and gas industries, ultimately saw him become Chief Executive of the Calor Group plc and Senior Vice President of a large global company based in Utrecht. He worked and lived in both the UK and the Netherlands gaining experience in business planning, organisational development and performance improvement.
On retiring from corporate life, Harris became a mentor and coach in both the private and public sectors, including UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport and in November 2020, Harris was presented with the Spirit of High Performance Award at UK Sport’s annual PLx awards ceremony.
He was recognised in the Queen's New Year Honours list for 2022 and awarded The Member for the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to sport.