About
Glen Richards is an Australian veterinarian turned entrepreneur who transformed a single regional clinic into Greencross — a network of more than 200 veterinary hospitals and over 300 Petbarn, City Farmers and Animates stores across Australia and New Zealand. His passion for animal welfare, combined with a knack for scaling service businesses, made him a natural choice for reality-TV investors: he joined Shark Tank Australia in 2016 and quickly became the “pet-care shark,” backing founders whose ideas improve everyday life for families and their animals. Today he divides his time between board roles (Greencross, Healthia, People Infrastructure) and mentoring health-and-wellness start-ups, all while championing a kinder workplace culture for vets and allied-health professionals.
Before Fame
Richards grew up on a sheep-and-cattle property near Richmond in outback Queensland, where bottle-feeding poddy calves sparked the curiosity that later took him to the University of Queensland for a Bachelor of Veterinary Science (1988). Post-graduation stints in Brisbane, Townsville and London honed both surgical skills and business instincts, and a master’s degree from James Cook University deepened his understanding of animal production science. At just 27 he bought Currajong Veterinary Hospital in Townsville; within a decade he had five clinics, a large-format pet-store concept and even two hospitals in China — all early proof that a regional vet could think globally.
Trivia
- Reality-TV rookie, instant standout: Richards replaced real-estate guru John McGrath for Shark Tank Australia’s second season in 2016 and has since evaluated hundreds of pitches ranging from articulated baby mannequins to pet-sitting platforms.
- China before it was cool: Long before most Australian SMEs eyed Asia, he opened two veterinary hospitals on the mainland, gaining early insight into cross-border supply chains.
- From scalpel to strategy: Richards stepped away from daily Greencross operations in 2014 but still guides the company at board level and is often called on to “stress-test” culture initiatives inside other fast-growing firms.
- Scaling mantra: He summarises his growth playbook as “V4P” — Vision, Planning, People, Patience, Passion — a framework he shares at conferences and in workshops for early-stage founders.
- Latest endeavour: In 2024 he became chair of private-equity newcomer Arbor Permanent Owners, signalling a broader interest in legacy-focused investments.
Family Life
Despite a crowded calendar, Richards describes himself first as “a family bloke.” He and his wife, Lisa, raise three daughters (now in their late teens and tweens) on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The household menagerie includes two dogs, two cats and four horses — proof that the vet’s love for animals never clocked off when the cameras did.
Associated With
Richards sits alongside fellow Australian sharks Naomi Simson, Janine Allis, Andrew Banks and Steve Baxter on the show, often syndicating deals with them when ventures align with his “healthy pets, healthy people” ethos. Baxter once interviewed him for SmartCompany, calling Richards “the operator every founder hopes to have on the cap table.”
