John Risley

Risley was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the son of Robert Campbell Risley (1908–1964), the first commanding officer of a military police unit and later an insurance broker, and Patricia Anne Bourke (1920–2014). He never attended university, instead choosing a career in real estate. By 1976 he was struggling through a housing slump and he opened a lobster business in Bedford, Nova Scotia.

His ex-wife is the former Judy MacDonald of Halifax. The Risley 32,000-square-foot home near Chester, Nova Scotia overlooks the Atlantic Ocean on a 91 acres (37 ha) property formerly owned by Joseph N. Pew, Jr., founder of Sunoco. After purchasing the property, Risley added another 210 acres to the estate. Besides a mansion, he has a barn with cows purchased from the Rockefeller family and his horses include Dutch Warmbloods, which he shows.

In 2010, their daughter Sarah Risley married Guy Barnett, "a British deckhand who came to Canada to work on Risley's yacht".

His brother is the Halifax restaurateur, caterer and hotelier Robert Risley.

Risley was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1998.

Since his divorce from Judy Risley (MacDonald) John has built a second home in South End Halifax with his girlfriend, Amy Gordinier-Regan (owner of skinfix) and her two children.

Since 2009, Risley has owned a 246-foot megayacht, Northern Star, which has been listed for sale at $170 million.

Risley provided 25 million CDN in funding to the Ocean Frontier Institute, an ocean research centre based in Dalhousie University. "Risley’s gift to OFI is the culmination of his long-time association with Dalhousie University and its many stakeholders, both internal and external."