He was the son of Henry I and his wife Anastasia of Pomerania.
From 1287 to 1289, he ruled Mecklenburg jointly with his elder brother Henry II, under the regency of their uncle Nicholas III.
John III drowned off the island of Poel on 27 May 1289 and was buried in the Franciscan monastery in Wismar.
On 3 November 1288, he married Helena (d. 9 August 1315), the daughter of Wizlaw II, Prince of Rügen.
This article about a member of the German nobility is a stub.