John Gunn was born in England and moved to Australia aged three. He was a destroyer navigator during World War II and was later a Fleet Air Arm Pilot. After the war, he acted as a consultant to several companies, including Rolls Royce, the British Aircraft Corporation and TAA. He was also the literary guide to the ABC Argonaut's Club for fifteen years.
Gunn wrote many children's books during the 1950s and 1960s. His novel for young readers, Sea Menace (1958), was a joint-winner of the Book of the Year Award of the Children's Book Council and his Peter Kent series consolidated his reputation. As literary guide to the Argonaut's Club, he edited three books written by the membership. In addition to fiction, Gunn wrote a number of information books for children, such as Flying for You: A Career in Aviation (1955). Gunn is also widely admired for his contributions to aviation history, winning the H. T. Priestly Memorial Medal for The Defeat of Distance (1985), a history of the early years of Qantas.
Gunn continued his diverse output in the 1990s, completing the novel, Water Hazard (1995), a history of Trans-Australia Airlines, Contested Skies (1999) and the play, Hildegard, which premiered in St Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane, in May 1999.
