John Wilson is the author of "Varsity Blues: The Scandal Within the Scandal," which offers a personal account of his experience in the infamous college admissions case. He and his three half-siblings were raised on welfare by their single mother in the Bowles Park housing projects of Hartford, Connecticut. John learned at a young age that hard-work and education were the keys to escaping poverty. He hand-picked tobacco from age 12 to 16 to help his family scrape by.
John earned a BS in chemical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Harvard Business School at age 23, the youngest in his class. He built a successful business career rising from entry level positions to a partner at Bain, a senior operating partner at McKinsey and multiple executive roles in several Fortune 500 companies. John lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with his wife Leslie and their three children.