John Curran was appointed Director General of the Office of Utility Regulation in February 2005. John was previously Director of Regulation with the office since April 2003 and prior to this worked as Regulatory Adviser with Telstra, the Australian telecoms incumbent. During 2001 John spent six months working as a Regulatory Consultant with the OUR in its start-up phase, helping to design and implement the new regulatory framework.

Prior to this, John spent four years with the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation (now ComReg) in Ireland, the Irish Regulatory Agency for Telecommunications and Post, where he was Regulatory Manager with the Market Operations Division during the liberalisation of the telecoms market. During this time he managed work on a number of projects including interconnection, dispute resolution and licensing. From 1999, he directed the international work of the ODTR with other National Regulatory Agencies and with the European Commission on the new regulatory framework in Europe.

Prior to this John worked for three years in communications regulation in Ireland, including dealing with cable and broadcasting while working with the Irish Civil Service. He started his career in the Irish Civil Service having studied Electronic Engineering at Galway Institute of Technology.