Ian was born in Niagara Falls, Canada, in 1949 and in 2001 moved to England where he lives with his wife near London. He first became acquainted with the Gurdjieff Work in 1973 and joined his first group in Toronto in 1977. In 1979 he studied Movements at Daglingworth in England. 

In 1980 he became a member of a group called The Search at Northeon Forest in Pennsylvania, USA, that was lead by Paul Beidler, a former student of Gurdjieff. After two years residential training, he returned to Toronto to assist and eventually lead the satellite Toronto Northeon Group. Since Mr. Beidler's death in 1998, he has been working to bring Mr. Beidler's teaching to a wider audience.