Giannis Petridis was born in Plati, Prespa in 1949 and finished primary school there.

At the age of twelve, his parents send him alone to Florina, where Giannis went to High School. He then enrolled and graduated from a Technical School of Electrical Engineering in the city of Florina. He studied and graduated from the Public Technical School of Foremen of Kozani, the department of Electricians. With the degree he received and after examinations, he obtained the Licenses of Foreman of Electrical Installations and Automation.

After graduating in 1971, he served his military service and when he finished in 1974, he went to Germany and worked for Siemens.

In Germany he met Freideriki, a Greek woman and his fellow villager, who was already working there. They got married and have two children.

They returned to Greece in 1978 and settled in Thessaloniki, where Giannis worked in the field of industrial facilities, but in the summer of the same year there was a big, catastrophic earthquake in the city, so they were forced to move to Kastoria where he dealt with Electromechanical installations.

In 1985 they return to Plati, Prespa, where Giannis took over the management of the Prespa National Park, with responsibilities for the Supervision and Protection of the rare Fauna and Flora of the area. At the same time, with his work, he undertook the guided tour of the visitors of the area.

Throughout his work there he met remarkable people and scientists. He collaborated with them in various research and collection of data from the natural environment of the area for studies, doctoral dissertations, etc.

His own papers, regarding the Flora and Fauna of the Prespa Forest, have been published in relevant magazines.

He retired in 2014, he has three granddaughters and still lives with his family in Plati, Prespa. He grows beans with Freideriki and in his spare time deals with patents for the improvement of agricultural machinery.