John Cawcutt AFSM joined the fire service in 1985 and has a significant history in the delivery of contemporary fire services at the tactical, operational and strategic level, including policy development and input into legislative changes. Prior to being appointed as the Chief Fire Officer, John served in numerous regional and state roles including Assistant Commissioner Greater Brisbane Region, North Coast Region and State Operations. In recent years John has also acted as Deputy Commissioner in Queensland Fire and Rescue, Emergency Management Volunteering and Community Resilience and Strategy & Corporate Services.

John has been involved in national and international Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) since 2000 and was the Team Leader for Australia's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) team (AUS-1) for 10 years. He has responded to major disasters both nationally and internationally, undertaken capacity building projects in New Zealand, Japan, USA and China and has classified many international teams. John is currently the co-chair of an international committee representing 90 countries reviewing coordination and assurance standards for international disaster assistance. 

John has an Executive Master of Public Administration, a Master of Leadership and Management (Policing) and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Among other awards, John was proud to receive the Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM) in the 2006 Queens Birthday Honours list.