Representative John O'Brien grew up in Tunbridge on a sheep farm. In 1974, John's father, Bob O'Brien, was the first Democrat elected State Senator from Orange County since the Civil War. John graduated from Chelsea High School and Harvard College (majoring in government). John is married to Emily Howe, and they have two teenage sons. From May through October, John and Emily run an event business on the family farm, Weddings at Landgoes Farm. John produced and directed THE TUNBRIDGE TRILOGY, three independent feature films about a small town in Vermont, with MAN WITH A PLAN, starring Fred Tuttle, being the most famous. John serves on the Tunbridge Selectboard, he is a JP, he is a trustee for the Tunbridge Volunteer Fire Department, and is a reading mentor (Everybody Wins!) at the Tunbridge Central School. Elected in November 2018, and re-elected in 2020, John serves the Royalton-Tunbridge district formerly represented by David Ainsworth, Sarah Buxton and Rosemary "Rozo" McLaughlin. At film festivals, John used to describe himself as "the only filmmaker in America who can shear a sheep and milk a cow," but that claim is unsubstantiated.