Cooke was born in
Chester, the second child of John and Ruth Cooke. His father worked in sales and his mother ran the household. He was brought up in the
Exclusive Brethren church but found growing up in the Brethren very restrictive, and he rebelled from an early age. He attended Hoole Secondary Modern but left at the age of 14 with no qualifications and several brushes with the law. Mr Fox, his headteacher at the time, said "Cooke, you will never achieve anything with your life." Cooke trained to be a joiner and had his own glazing company. In 1981, Cooke had his own kitchen design and fitting business which failed in less than two years. He then went on to establish a window installation company which grew nationally and was bought out in 1986. From 1986, Cooke worked as a contracts manager for Rowcroft Windows until 1995, when he became a Projects Manager and Children's Advocate for Samaritan's Purse. == Charitable work ==