Dr. KO graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong in 1981. He began his career at The Princess Margaret Hospital and received a fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1986. Dr. KO received his master degree in Health Administration from the University of New South Wales in 1992. He became a fellow of Orthopaedic Surgery at The Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (1993); a fellow of the Community Medicine (2000), and was granted fellowship of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine at The Royal College of Physicians (2001). He was awarded with BBS in 2008 and GBS in 2017.

He joined the Hospital Authority (HA) in 1991 and served as Director of Professional Services & Public Affairs and Director of Professional Services and Human Resources when he left HA in 2004. He acted as the acting Chief Executive of HA during the SARS outbreak in 2003. Under his leadership, the united dedicated professional efforts of all staff in HA to combat the SARS was well reflected. HA succeeded to overcome formidable challenges hence safeguarding the city’s public health. Dr. KO became Chairman of the Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society in 2005 and subsequently took up the Director of the Hong Kong Red Cross. He contributed greatly in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Sichuan after the 2008 earthquake.

Dr. KO served as the Secretary for Food and Health from 2012 to 2017. Being particularly concerned about the increasing demand for healthcare services due to global ageing, he started a steering committee to review Hong Kong’s healthcare system which involved manpower planning as well as professional training and development. He was elected as member of the National Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in 2018.

Over the years, Dr. KO has given relentless support to the nursing profession as Secretary for Food and Health. He gave good advice to enhancing the professionalism of the industry and helped in the materialization of various nursing initiatives.