Voices of BlueScope
Listen to our people around the world as they share stories about their careers, teams and projects.
Voices of BlueScope
60. A Sense of Pride with John Nowlan
Craig Nealon (Company Historian at BlueScope) interviews our former Chief Executive of Australian Steel Products, John Nowlan. In November 2025, John became BlueScope's first ever non-independent, non-executive director, bringing his decades of experience in global steel-making and company management to the board. Together, they reflect on his career in Australia and overseas, what it meant for BlueScope to forge its own path after leaving BHP and the powerful contributions of people on the ground, who have worked tirelessly through the ups and downs of a cyclical industry.
Chapters
- Introduction: 0:00
- Family Study and Early Career: 01:23
- Managing People and Processes around the World: 14:26
- Returning to Australia and the Birth of BlueScope: 25:43
- Difficult Decisions for the Long Term: 33:44
- Resurrection and Rejuvenation: 42:56
- What Really Works?: 49:09
- Final Reflections: 54:07
- Conclusion: 1:00:51
Links
- Read the University of Wollongong's LinkedIn post about John and his degree in mechanical engineering, which was shared to coincide with the institution's 50th anniversary.
- Get a feel for the cadetship program at our Port Kembla Steelworks in our FocusOn story (2025) and cadet networking video (2024) on TVBlueScope.
- 'HSC' stands for 'Higher School Certificate', which is the secondary school credential in the Australian state of New South Wales.
- Watch videos of Basic Oxygen Steelmaking (BOS), the Hot Strip Mill, operators and engineers at No. 5 Blast Furnace and the No. 6 Blast Furnace reline project on TVBlueScope.
- Learn more about North Star and its expansion project in episode 18 of the podcast and in a video on TVBlueScope.
- Browse photos of BlueScope's early days as an independent company in this dedicated Flickr album, which includes the photo that Craig mentions of John ringing the bell.
Connect with Us
Credits
- Interview by Craig Nealon
- Recorded and edited by Martin Feld
Auto-transcript on Apple Podcasts, edited PDF coming soon
