[1][2] A profile in 2010 by Australian author and Herald columnist Malcolm Knox said that Gonski is "a quiet man, in some ways invisible, and cleaves to the shadows.
"[3][4] Gonski was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and his family migrated to Australia in 1961 in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre.
[3] Gonski's father, Alexander, was a neurosurgeon of Polish background and a founding member of The Coast Golf Club at Little Bay, New South Wales.
Gonski practised as a solicitor with the firm of Freehills from 1977 to 1986, becoming their youngest ever partner at age 25, before leaving to co-found an investment bank.
[4] He established a corporate advisory firm, Wentworth Associates Pty Ltd, which was acquired by Investec Bank in March 2001.
WCC invested in the predecessor of Ten Network Holdings that eventually resulted in Westfield losing several hundred million dollars.
[20] Amidst some controversy, Gonski succeeded David Murray as independent non-executive chairman of the Australian Government Future Fund on 3 April 2012.
At various times he has served on the boards of St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney; the Bundanon Trust; Philanthropy Australia; and the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce; and other non-profit entities.
He is close friends with Izzy Asper, Arthur Boyd, Rupert Murdoch, Kerry Stokes and Frank Lowy.
In 2007 Gonski was invested as a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for service to the arts through charitable support and the development of policy initiatives, to business and commerce as a company director, to education, and to the community through a range of philanthropic endeavours.