Johan grew up in South Africa. He studied at the University of Pretoria where he completed a B.A (Social Science) and a B.Bibl (Library and Information Science). He worked in a University Library, a Regional Manager for a publishing company and various entrepreneurial like his own small computer business. Later he taught English as a second language in countries like Taiwan and Vietnam from where he visited other countries like the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Hong Kong and Macau.