He married Sarah Anne Weston on 24 December 1894 at Porepunkah; in 1905, they moved to Oxley and established a dairy farm.

He became one of the most active public figures in the Wangaratta district, founding the North-Eastern Co-operative Society Ltd in 1906.

He was also a director of the Milawa Dairy Co and chairman of the Butter and Chesse Factories Association of Victoria, and held membership of the Victorian Dairy Council, the Western and Murray Co-operative Bacon and Meat Packing Co, the Wangaratta Agricultural Society, and the Melbourne Chamber of Agriculture.

In 1919, Cook stood for the Australian House of Representatives as a candidate for the Victorian Farmers Union in Indi, and defeated sitting Nationalist member John Leckie.

However, in 1928, he mistakenly failed to lodge his renomination papers, resulting in Labor challenger Paul Jones taking the seat unopposed.