There were several famous men named John Wilkinson:

• John Wilkinson (industrialist) was a British industrialist who suggested the use of iron for many roles where other materials had previously been used.

• John Gardiner Wilkinson (October 5, 1797 - October 29, 1875) was a well-known English traveller, writer and pioneer Egyptologist of the 19th century.

• John Wilkinson (1821-1891) was an officer in the Confederate States Navy during the U.S. Civil War.

• John Arbuthnot Du Cane Wilkinson (born September 23, 1940) is a politician in the United Kingdom.

• John Wilkinson is a Canadian politician from Ontario.

• John Wilkinson (poet) is a British poet born in London in 1953