His most notable publications relate to the formal economic underpinnings of business strategy[6] and valuation,[7] and to the philosophical status of physical constants[8] – such as the speed of light – in scientific theories.

[13] While pursuing his doctorate, Johnson was involved in the planning and resourcing of the Said Business School, Oxford, designing core elements of the MBA curriculum and managing external corporate relations.

[16] Johnson taught strategy and entrepreneurship, leading him, with the help of David Sainsbury to launch[17] an entrepreneurial festival, Venturefest,[18] on behalf of Oxford and Brookes universities in 1999.

The first fair attracted over 1800 attendees over two days, helped by support from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation, Oxford County Council, IBM, Reuters, McKinsey.

He pursued further entrepreneurial engagement in an active executive role, including at Cartezia Ltd,[23] a specialist digital business-building consultancy and incubator.

At a number of Oxford Colleges, the Finance and Investment Bursar (CFO, CIO) is chosen from the academic fellows, on a rotating basis.

[24] He implemented major changes in investment policy, introducing a variant of Swensen’s Yale model, and establishing an external advisory committee comprising members from Apax Partners, Tudor,[25] Adam Street,[26] UBS, and London Business School.

Johnson then went on to explicate more generally what this notion of realism entailed, employing for the most part The Natural Ontological Attitude (NOA) as expounded by Arthur Fine.

In 2005, Johnson published Astute Competition: The Economics of Strategic Diversity,[33] integrating the concepts, tools and theories that he had developed in his consulting work, teaching, and entrepreneurial activities.