Johnson is from
rural Canterbury and was educated at
Christ's College and the
University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Johnson graduated from the University of Canterbury with a BA in Politics and Community Engagement in 2015.
Student Volunteer Army Following the
2010 and
2011 earthquakes, Johnson founded the
Student Volunteer Army to assist residents with the clean up of
liquefaction caused by the earthquakes. The Student Volunteer Army was managed by a core team of 15 people and a wider administration of 70 people who managed the three core operations which the SVA focused on; battalions, squadrons and street teams. There were 13,000 students volunteering per week.
Disaster response and preparedness In late April and early May 2011, Johnson spent two weeks in Japan following the
Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami to set up a Student Volunteer Army at
Waseda University. Johnson worked to assist mobilising young Nepalese volunteers following the Nepal earthquakes in 2015. Johnson and the Student Volunteer Army worked with other young people alongside the
UNISDR in preparation for 3rd
World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction.
Local leadership and politics Johnson successfully stood for the Riccarton-Wigram Community Board of the
Christchurch City Council in the
October 2010 local body elections. At the time, he was endorsed by Prime Minister
John Key for his election campaign. Johnson declared in July 2011 that he had no intention to run for higher public office in the near future. In January 2013, it was reported that he may consider running for Christchurch City Council in the
October 2013 local body elections.
The Press reported on 20 April 2013 that
Lianne Dalziel would challenge
Bob Parker for the Christchurch mayoralty, and that she had asked Johnson to be her running mate, with a view of Johnson becoming deputy mayor. Johnson eventually decided against running, saying it wasn't the "right thing for me right now". Johnson is a founding Trustee of the Ministry of Awesome, a Christchurch-based idea incubator.
Social enterprise and business In 2016, Johnson launched a social enterprise focused on the alarming rates of social isolation in New Zealand which then joined forces with technology platform Mycare to improve the New Zealand care and support sector. ==Awards and celebrities ==