John Lake is a graduate of Claremont Teachers College, Western Australia, the University of Western Australia and Rutgers University in the USA. He is a Fellow and Life Member of the Australian College of Educators.

A former Dean of the Faculty of Education at Curtin University, Director of Development at Bond University and Executive Director of the Australian-American Fulbright Commission, Dr Lake has held a number of senior board posts in Australia at both the State and National level. He was the first elected chairman of Curtin University's Academic Board and for eight years was a member and then chairman of the Commonwealth Schools Commission State Planning and Finance Committee. He is a past President of the South Pacific Association for Teacher Education.

Dr Lake discovered Bali in 1977 and has been a regular visitor since then. He joined the Board of The John Fawcett Foundation in 2000, retiring to act as consultant to the Board in 2003. As consultant he provided advice on policy development preparing the Foundation’s successful application for Australian tax exemption. He also assisted with the Foundation’s registration as a charity in Western Australia and with the development of the Foundation’s Rules of Association. Dr Lake re-joined the Board as Secretary in October 2007