Born in Brisbane QLD, Dean was introduced to pottery as a teenager by his mother and began making pots with his father and firing them in their backyard gas-fired kiln. From this pivotal experience, ceramics became Dean’s life path. Largely self-taught, he received some training at Southbank Tafe in Brisbane and from Master Potter Ted Secombe who introduced him to crystalline glazes. After living and working in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth, Dean settled in Castlemaine, Victoria with his partner and their young son. Living opposite an historic gold mine strewn with volcanic rock, quartz, ochre and machine relics, has given Dean direct access to some of the elements that inspire his work

Dean has exhibited in galleries in Victoria and Western Australia.  His work is housed in both public and private collections in Australia and overseas.  Dean has received a number of awards, most recently the Silver Prize in the upcoming Taiwan Ceramics Biennale in July 2012 at the Yingge Ceramics Museum. In conjunction with this, Dean will be undertaking a three month artist's residency in Yingge.