Ian was born in Liverpool, Western Sydney and grew up in a military family where his father served as Warrant Officer Class 2 at the School of Military Engineering. His mother also served prior to having her first child and retrained as a nurse after raising four children.

In 1999 his father was medically retired, and they moved to Grafton. He finished schooling in 2001 and moved out on his own and started working in the trades – building cool rooms, refrigeration, carpentry, concreting and bridge building. He was a sole trader for over ten years, travelling for work.

In 2008, he joined Fire and Rescue NSW at Grafton Station as a Retained Firefighter. This was his childhood dream, and he worked his way up to the rank of Deputy Captain at Coffs Harbour Station.

To further his career in the field of firefighting, he also signed up with Forestry Corporation as a seasonal Fire Fighter in 2009. This led to a permanent job in 2014, performed in conjunction with Fire and Rescue NSW, until he resigned from both fire agencies in 2020.

He stepped into a Contract Professional role with Transport for NSW as a Coordinator for the Disaster Recovery following the bushfires and floods. Within the first year he had administered over $100 million to councils for the recovery efforts. He states that his experience through crisis and disaster have hardened his resolve and given fuel to his passion for helping people.

“My political aspirations have developed over the past 3 years to improve resilience in regional New South Wales,” Ian says about his reason for running for parliament. “I’ve personally experienced the destruction and loss caused by disasters for over a decade, giving me a passion and drive to help the communities of Page and all of its constituents.”