Johan obtained his PhD in statistics at Stockholm University, working on Bayesian estimation for statistical models for social networks under the supervision of Ove Frank. He has largely continued in this area, for example proposing approaches for handling missing network data and techniques for likelihood-based inference for network panel data of different types. Together with colleagues in Melbourne, he edited a book on exponential random graph models that has become the standard reference in the field. He previously has held positions at the universities of Melbourne, Oxford, and Manchester and is currently holding a position in the Department of Statistics at Stockholm University. In-between stints being employed at the University of Melbourne, he has been a reliable visitor to these shores, maintaining an honorary position throughout, and he keeps up close collaborations with the Australian network community. He has been in Melbourne for every Ashes Boxing day test since the 2006/7 series. Throughout his career he has maintained an interest in fundamental network issues, such as how we can represent networks, what network dependencies are, and how many observations we have in a network.