Born on March 14, 1970, Ryan is Chairman of Organica, Korea’s leading premium natural foods company, which he founded in 2013. Admitted to the New York State Bar in 1998, he began his career in the M&A Group at Lehman Brothers in New York before founding the California-based venture Struxicon. In 2002, he acquired Herald Corporation – venerable publisher of The Korea Herald and Herald Business – and returned the company to sustained growth and profitability. Elected to the National Assembly in 2008, he served on the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee and chaired the ruling Grand National Party’s International Affairs Committee, while advancing key institutional reforms before declining to seek re-election in 2012. He subsequently resumed leadership of Herald, sustaining profitability for fourteen consecutive years until its sale in 2019.

In 2011, he established Olje Foundation to promote classical and arts education in Korea. He currently serves as Chairman of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Korea and is a trustee of Choate Rosemary Hall and the Friends of the National Museum of Korea. He was named a Young Global Leader by World Economic Forum and an Asia 21 Fellow by Asia Society, and received the Lifetime Contribution Award from the National Museum of Korea. He also holds an honorary doctorate in political science from Yongin University.

He holds an A.B. from Harvard University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School, and also studied political science at Seoul National University and international politics at Peking University. A best-selling author, his publications include Seven Acts, Seven Scenes—which has sold over 1.3 million copies—and 50: Essays by Hong Jungwook. He is married to ceramicist Nicole Junghee Sohn, and they have three children.