John Gleeson has been working full time as a potter since the mid-1970s, operating from a studio in Campbells Creek near Fryerstown, Victoria, and making functional pottery in stoneware and porcelain using local raw materials where possible. He has an entry in the 1988 potters' directory, at which time he was making work in partnership with Glad Winchcomb. In 2009, he participated in Ceramics Victoria's 40th Anniversary exhibition. His work may be signed with a painted or incised 'John Gleeson' or an impressed 'JG' in a square. Work made with Winchcomb is impressed 'Winchcomb Gleeson'.