John Shanks was born in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland in 1866 and served an apprenticeship with a joiner. From 1892 he studied at Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, where he was taught by Charles Gourlay (1865-1926) who persuaded him to pursue a career as an architect. He subsequently commenced independent practice in Kirkintilloch in 1896. From 1904 to 1906 Shanks was employed as master of works in the building of Kirkintilloch Town Hall designed by Walker & Ramsay. He later worked for Dumbarton County Council and Dunbartonshire Education Committee.
Shanks was elected a Licentiate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (LRIBA) in 1910. His address was given as 45, Cowgate Street, Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow in c.1909 and c.1939; Strathyre, Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow in 1910 and 1914. He died in Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire on 1 March 1944
Bakeries and warehouses for Kirkintilloch, Kilsyth, and Lennoxtown Co-operative Societies; Memorial tower, Wick; Hospital for Consumptives, and Nurses' Home, Kirkintilloch; extensions. Broomhill Home for Incurables, Kirkintilloch: Home for Defective and Feebleminded Children', Kirkintilloch; extensions. Burgh Schools. Kirkintilloch; offices and domestic work in Glasgow and neighbourhood; domestic work, &c.. In Kirkintilloch; residences at St. Monan's and Plttenweem, Fife; Buchlyvie, Perthshire; Killearn, Stirlingshire ; Elderslie, Renfrewshire. [Who's Who in Architecture 1914]
See the Dictionary of Scottish Architects 1660-1980 for an additional list of architectural projects by John Shanks
Directory of British Architects 1834-1914. Compiled by Antonia Brodie, et al. Volume 2: L-Z. London; New York: British Architectural Library, Royal Institute of British Architects/Continuum, 2001