Ron Turner started his football career at John Oliver Secondary in Vancouver as a linebacker and offensive lineman, captaining the team in 1967 in his senior year. He would receive a scholarship to play for Simon Fraser University in 1968, and went on to play for the Meralomas junior team from 1970 to 1973 where he was a two-time provincial all-star.
His playing ability would attract the attention of his hometown BC Lions who drafted him in 1972. However, injuries would prevent him from being able to compete professionally so instead, Turner turned to coaching beginning at John Oliver in 1973 while there as a student-teacher.
Turner became head coach at John Oliver in 1975 and, overall, would have two coaching stints with the high school he played at from 1973-1983 and from 1990-2002 winning the BC High School Championship in 1992.
During his coaching career, he would guide many young players to collegiate and CFL careers including the likes of John Pankratz, Dom Busto, Karl Jovanovic, Tony Antunovic and William Loftus.
Turner coached with Team BC as a Defensive Coordinator in the 1990s and, since 2002, has also coached at UBC and SFU.
He has been a board member for Football BC and is an Honourary Life Member of the BC Secondary Schools Football Association. As of 2019, Turner is the defensive coordinator at Vancouver College.