Peter Johnston was born in 1966 and educated at Ballymena Academy.
After reading Chemical Engineering at Imperial College, London, he worked for Shell International in London and PricewaterhouseCoopers in Belfast.
He joined BBC Northern Ireland in 1994 as a Research Executive, progressing quickly to become Head of Marketing and Development.
He then became Head of New Media for BBC Nations and Regions before taking up post as Head of Broadcasting in 2003.
He is married with two children and lives in Hillsborough, County Down.
