John C. "Chris" Johnson, Jr. was born in 1924 in Gunnison, Colorado, where he spent his early childhood, moving to Pennsylvania for elementary and high school. He served in the US Army in World War II and was wounded in the Battle of the Bulge. He was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge and a Purple Heart medal for his service. Following the war, he received his undergraduate degree from Ohio State University in 1947 before going on to earn his MS in 1952, and later his PhD in Zoology in 1957 at the University of Oklahoma. His speciality was birds and parasites in birds.

Johnson was a longtime resident of Pittsburg, Kansas. He was a member of the Department of Biology at Pittsburg State University from 1956-1987, when he retired as Professor Emeritus. During summers, he worked in various positions, including as Director from 1968-1977 at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Crested Butte, Colorado, a biological field station founded by his father in 1928.

Chris Johnson died in 2012, predeceasing his wife of 63 years, Dorothy, who died in 2015.