In 1989, John Fordyce Peake (1933–2024) became the first Associate Director for Science at London's world-famous Natural History Museum (NHMUK). Often considered controversial, Peake was influential throughout his career, proposing and adopting many innovations in collections practice, including data acquisition, storage and management, and general museum policy – not only in the UK but also internationally, following the emergence of biodiversity as a global matter of concern. In his youth, Peake was inspired by the natural history and ecology of the North Norfolk coast, which led to a bachelor's degree in zoology in 1955 and then, from 1959 until his retirement in 1992, a distinguished museum career. This paper presents an overview of John Peake's early life, formal education, affiliations, fieldwork, zoological research, career as a museologist, and his museum and research activities following retirement.