The son of an oil field worker and a school teacher, Sharp grew up in the small farming community of Placedo, Texas.

In 1976, Sharp received a master's degree in Public Administration from Texas State University in San Marcos while working full-time in Austin with the Legislative Budget Board.

[3] In 1978, Sharp returned to Victoria, Texas, where he opened a real estate firm[1] with a partner, the former County Commissioner Gene Martin.

After being asked by The Bryan-College Station Eagle why he decided to take the job, he was quoted, "A perfect set of examples is the federal government's involvement with the brucellosis program and forced busing.

[7] He won the special election runoff against Tim Von Dohlen and served a full four-year term in the Texas Senate.

Government Sharp ran for lieutenant governor again in 2002, but was defeated, losing by 6% to David Dewhurst, then the Land Commissioner.

"[2] During his eight years as Comptroller, Sharp established the Texas Performance Review (TPR), an ongoing audit on state government.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison announced the creation of an exploratory committee for the Texas governor's race in 2010.

Unlike several other candidates for the office, Sharp did not create an exploratory committee but immediately began raising funds and campaigning in 2009.

He said in a statement, "During World War II my father was shot in defense of the greatest country on Earth, and I proudly wore the uniform of a United States Army reserve officer.

I'm running for the United States Senate because we need mainstream, common-sense leadership to clean up the mess in Washington, D.C., not a bunch of radical, anti-American rhetoric.

"[17] On August 15, 2011, John Sharp was appointed by Governor Rick Perry and the A&M Board of Regents to be chancellor of the Texas A&M University System.

Prior to the contract being awarded to Compass Group USA, the company was providing landscaping, building maintenance, custodial and dining services to Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi.

[34] The vice chancellor of marketing and communications for Texas A&M later said Alonzo "had no issue with how the University handled the situation.

[37] After the controversies of the botched attempted hiring of A&M graduate and University of Texas at Austin journalism professor Kathleen McElroy to revitalize the journalism department, and the suspension of pharmacy professor Joy Alonzo at Texas A&M University, Sharp publicly apologized in an op-ed published by the Austin American-Statesman.

[38][39] The Texas A&M University System announced they had been awarded a federal contract to comanage the Pantex Plant on June 14, 2024.

[39] In the announcement, Sharp said in a statement, "We take our national security responsibilities seriously, and we will bring the same level of care and expertise to Pantex as we have done for the past several years to Los Alamos.