John Nowlan is a name shared by several notable individuals across different fields, primarily in Australian politics, Australian business, Canadian journalism and travel writing, and American chemical trading.
John Nowlan (1821 – 9 March 1895) was an Irish-born Australian politician. Born in Kilkenny, Ireland, to pastoralist Timothy Nowlan and Elizabeth Robertson, he migrated to Tasmania at a young age and later farmed in the Port Phillip district. He subsequently moved to Maitland, New South Wales, where he bred cattle. In 1866, he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for Williams and served until his retirement in 1874. He died at West Maitland in 1895.
John Nowlan is an Australian business executive who served as Chief Executive of Australian Steel Products and later as Chief Technical and Development Officer at BlueScope Steel. He began his career in 1976 as a Mechanical Engineering Trainee at BHP in Port Kembla and graduated with first-class honours and a University Medal from the University of Wollongong, later earning an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW. He held key leadership roles including Vice-President of Operations at North Star BHP Steel in the United States and Chief Executive of BlueScope's Australian Steel Products division. He was appointed a Fellow of the University of Wollongong in 2024 and retired as an executive in September 2025 after nearly 50 years in the steel industry, subsequently joining the BlueScope Steel Limited board as a Non-Executive Director.
John Nowlan (with his wife Sandra Nowlan) is a Canadian travel and food writer based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He is a former radio and television producer, director, and executive producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), where his show Street Cents won an International Emmy, the Japan Prize, and multiple Gemini Awards. He holds degrees from Acadia University, King's College, and Saint Mary's University, and was awarded the Michener Media Fellowship for meritorious public service in journalism. John and Sandra Nowlan have visited and written about over 120 countries across all seven continents.
John Nowlan is an American petrochemical executive based in Houston, Texas, serving as President and CEO of Gulf Chemical International / PetroActive Holdings LLC. He has over 37 years of experience in crude oil, oil products, petrochemicals, and LPG trading and management.
The name John Patrick Nowlan (1931–2020), known as Pat Nowlan, was a Canadian Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Annapolis Valley—Hants from 1965 to 1993, and son of former Canadian Minister of Finance George Nowlan.
