Ron was born in Dunedin in 1928. He attended Otago Boys High and later Otago University.

He started his working life in broadcasting and then went on to be a director of Ilott's Advertising Agency.

He was chosen to lead New Zealand's bid to host the Commonwealth Games. This bid was eventually won despite the opposition of the Supreme Council of Sport for South Africa.

The 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games made a profit of $NZ1.3M, the first games ever to make a profit. The 1974 games became known later as
"The Friendly Games". The success of the games can largely be attributed to the caliber of the organising team members who were selected from the Christchurch community.

In 1983 Ron chaired the establishment trust for New Zealand's Americas Cup challenge.

In 1984 Ron was Chef De Mission of the New Zealand Olympic Team which won 8 Gold medals.

in 1985 the government established a Task Force to improve funding of sport and increase participation levels. Ron chaired this process. Ron was the Chair of the Hillary Commission and founding Trustee and board member of The Sports Foundation. He persuaded the government to commit Lottery Funds to support sport in New Zealand. In 2001 he proposed the establishment of a Government Drugs Sports Agency

In 2003 after retiring from the Hillary Commission he was approaced by the Arts Council to review its activities and propose strategies to expand the support base for the arts. The outcome was establishment of the Arts Foundation and funding of the arts from the NZ Lotteries Grants Board. Many NZ artists have been the beneficiaries of Ron's recommnedations.

Ron was a meber of the Welligton City Council's Working Party which developed the very successful Wellington Westpac Stadium.

There are many other projects in which Ron was involved- too numerous to mention. 

He was interested in everything and made a huge contribution to New Zealand.

Lise Kljakovic   ( daughter )