He was born at Salisbury, South Australia to Joseph Nock and his second wife Eliza, née Keyworth.

Nock attended Tarlee State School and Prince Alfred College in Adelaide, and joined his father's store and wheat buying business, which he ran from his father's death in 1904 until 1914, when he relocated to a grazing property, Nelungaloo, near Parkes, New South Wales.

Nock was appointed Minister without portfolio administering External Territories in 1940, when Archie Cameron led the Country Party into the Menzies ministry.

A well-known representative of rural interests, Nock was known as the "Cockies' Patron Saint", and was a vigorous watchdog over tariffs.

In 1946 Nelungaloo Pty Ltd, Nock's company, challenged the Commonwealth's power of compulsory acquisition of wheat crops in the High Court of Australia.