John was awarded the Cancer Achievement Award for lifetime achievement in oncology by the Medical Oncology Group of Australia (2010) and the Distinguished Harvard Alum Award (Biostatistics) from Harvard University (2009) in recognition of his work in research. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and a member of research committees, trials groups and boards, including cancer cooperative groups and safety and data monitoring committees. He was named on the Clarivate Analytics 2018 Highly Cited Researchers List for 2018.In 2020, John received an Order of Australia award (AO) for his service to education and medicine in cancer research and clinical trials.