Researching Tony Dean

Starting in 1985, Dean had hosted and produced the television show Tony Dean Outdoors, broadcast regionally in the upper Midwestern United States. He recorded several episodes of the show together co-hosted with Jason Mitchell for Tony Dean Outdoors prior to Mitchell's purchase of the program, now known as Jason Mitchell Outdoors. Dean also produced the daily radio show "Dakota Backroads" for nearly two decades and wrote columns for the Argus Leader, the daily newspaper of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

His programs received more than 160 regional and national awards. Dean served as a press secretary for former Governor of South Dakota, Republican Frank Farrar.

Dean supported candidates based on their stance on the issue of conservation, and he was criticized for his support of Democratic senator Tim Johnson and later for his support of the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, who Dean felt had the insight to appreciate the issues of land conservation. His wife indicated that one of the last things Dean had done before his attack of appendicitis was to film a series of commercials for Obama's campaign. She further noted that Dean would have served on the transition team in the event of an Obama victory.

Dean died on October 19, 2008 after complications from an appendicectomy. He had had his appendix removed in an operation in September 2008 in Pierre, South Dakota and was moved to a hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota to address complications. He died in the living room of his home overlooking the Missouri River, together with members of his immediate family.

Senator Johnson eulogized Dean for "his advocacy on behalf of conservation and sportsmen alike", noting that "[h]e understood the right balance".

Dean received a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology and social anthropology from University of Hull and a Master of Arts degree in sociology from McMaster University. He worked for ten years in the public sector in collective bargaining before joining the Ontario Public Service in 1989. He was Deputy Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister and Associate Secretary of Cabinet, Policy. In 2002, he was appointed by Ontario Premier Ernie Eves Secretary of the Cabinet and Clerk of the Executive Council. He retired in 2008 and became a professor at the University of Toronto’s School of Public Policy and Governance. He held this role until he was appointed to the Senate of Canada, at which point he became a Distinguished Fellow. In 2010 Dean was a senior research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. He advises governments, domestically and internationally, on public administration, public policy and implementation.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty described him as "the ultimate public servant, exhibiting on a daily basis the drive to get things done, and the diplomacy required to have them done well".

In 2009, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario in recognition for having "transformed the Ontario Public Service".

On October 31, 2016, Dean's appointment to the Senate of Canada was announced. Dean sits as an independent.

Born in Nannup, Western Australia, Dean received a Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) and a Diploma of Education, becoming a schoolteacher. He was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly in 2001 as the Labor member for Bunbury, defeating sitting member Ian Osborne. He was himself defeated in 2005 by John Castrilli. Dean has continued his political career and currently holds the position of shire president for the Shire of Nannup.