John Poris was born in the USA, spent a "gap year" in Israel after high school, then returned to the US to study. He completed a degree in Near Eastern Studies and Languages at the University of Michigan before making Aliyah in 1977. He was a member of kibbutz Grofit for 4 years, served in the IDF (Nahal), then returned to the USA for engineering school, then advanced degrees in Engineering and Business.
He is divorced, and currently lives in Florida.