Ian Wood was born on January 20, 1952 in Broken Hill, Zambia. He completed an Honours Degree in Business Studies in 1975 at the Polytechnic of Central London.

On graduation he joined Bayer UK Ltd. as a Marketing and Sales Assistant in the Rubber Chemicals Department. In 1976 he moved to Bayer AG Headquarters in Germany. In 1979, Wood was appointed General Manager of the Chemicals Division in Bayer Malaysia. From 1985 to 1990, Wood was Product Manager and then Export Sales Manager, Asia Pacific in the Rubber Division in Bayer AG, Germany.

In 1990, Wood was appointed General Manager of the Rubber, Surface Coatings and Inorganic Pigments Divisions in Bayer China. He was then responsible for the support group of the Board Member for Asia Pacific, in the Corporate Centre of Bayer AG in Leverkusen, Germany.

In 1999, Wood was General Manager Greater China, for the Specialty Products Division of Bayer China in Hong Kong. Starting with 2002 Wood was appointed General Manager for the region Asia Pacific for Bayer Chemicals GmbH.

Since 2004 Wood is the Managing Director of LANXESS Pte. Ltd. in Singapore.

Ian Wood is married with one son.