Johannes Meindert Willem Moorlach was born in Groningen, Netherlands, and came with his family to the United States when he was four years old.

He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the California State University, Long Beach in 1977.

[citation needed] Moorlach first came to public attention by predicting the largest municipal bond portfolio loss and bankruptcy in U.S. history while campaigning for the office of Orange County Treasurer–Tax Collector against incumbent Democrat Robert Citron in 1994.

[citation needed] In 2006, he opted not to run for re-election as Treasurer–Tax Collector and instead ran for Orange County Supervisor, winning 70% of the vote.

[6] After losing his Senate re-election bid in 2020, Moorlach made several failed attempts to return to office: Murloch and his wife have three children.