John Cook was born in 1918 in Maldon, Essex, England. He attended Christ College, Cambridge, where he studied with Boris Ord. After graduation, he became the Organist and Choirmaster at Church of the Holy Trinity, Stratford-Upon-Avon, before immigrating to Canada to take a similar position at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, Ontario.
In 1962, he became Organist and Choirmaster of Church of the Advent in Boston. Cook died in 1984.