Jón Þorláksson (usually transcribed Thorlaksson) was a farmer's son, from Vesturhópshólar in Húnavatnssýsla in the northwest of Iceland.

Jón Þorláksson graduated from Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík in 1897, highest in his class and with the best results ever given to a student at that school.

Jón resigned from his office in 1917, starting a company which imported building materials, but also working as an independent engineer on several projects.

Jón Þorláksson was a classical liberal who had learnt his economics from the well-known Swedish economist Gustav Cassel.

Publicly, Jón Þorláksson proposed the privatisation of the two commercial banks in Iceland, then in the hands of government.