James Hogan was born in 1956 in Melbourne, Australia, where following his education he worked in various operations and sales roles with Ansett Airlines, Qantas, VIP Airfreight and Ansett Pioneer.

In 1984 he joined Hertz, Australia/Asia-Pacific as National Marketing Manager subsequently becoming Director of Marketing and Sales followed by Operations. Following periods as Director of Sales and Reservations, and Field Marketing and Sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa, he was appointed Vice President, Marketing and Sales in 1995.

After a distinguished career with Hertz International spanning 13 years, he joined bmi British Midland in 1997 as Service Director responsible for in-flight services, ground staff, customer relations, reservations and service training.

In 1998 he was appointed to the Board of Forte Hotels Limited as Worldwide Sales Director. In 1999 he re-joined bmi British Midland as Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for cargo, commercial, engineering, handling, marketing, operations and sales departments. He was also appointed to the airline Board.

Prior to joining Gulf Air, he was based in Melbourne, Australia as Chief Executive of Tesna, a consortium engaged to restructure Ansett Airlines.

He took up the appointment as President and Chief Executive of Gulf Air on 12 May 2002. He is Vice Chairman of the Bahrain Hotels Co BSC and a Non-Executive Director of the Gallaher Group PLC.

He is a Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute.