Ian McLean was born at Brighton, Victoria on 7 June 1901. In his youth he excelled at sport and, on entering Melbourne Grammar School in 1915, played in the first XVIII for three years where he was remembered as a very accomplished half-forward. He also rowed in the first VIII. He was a probationer and house captain, leaving school in 1919 and entering the medical course at Melbourne University the following year. Again remembered for his football prowess with a blue in 1923, he qualified MB BS in 1925, followed by a year as RMO at Alfred Hospital and later a registrar appointment.

About this time he came under the influence of James Bell, one of the first physicians at Alfred Hospital with an interest in gastroenterology, especially gastric secretion, who had studied under Sir Arthur Hurst at Guy’s Hospital in London. Ian McLean introduced the Schindler flexible gastroscope to Alfred Hospital in the late 1930s. He was also interested in diabetes. He proceeded MD (Melbourne) in 1931, MRCP in 1932 and was appointed outpatient physician to Alfred Hospital in 1934. In 1938 he was elected a foundation Fellow of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Enlisting in the RAAF at the outbreak of World War II he saw service with No. 1 and No. 2 RAAF Hospitals, passing the DTM during his stay in Sydney. In 1944 he was posted to the overseas headquarters of the RAAF in London with the rank of group captain. At the end of hostilities he was appointed inpatient physician to Alfred Hospital in 1946, resuming his consultant medical practice and continuing his interest in ex-servicemen with an appointment as visiting physician to RGH Heidelberg, which he held from 1947 to 1955.

Dr Morris Davis, consultant physician to Alfred Hospital, recalls:

My first contact with Ian was as a student and later as a resident and staff member. He was meticulous, with a fine choice of language and an effective teacher. He was always neatly tailored in the best tradition of the consultant and possessed a good wit...Nip was a great scout, an efficient teacher and a fine colleague. He contributed greatly to clinical meetings and discussions. His quiet manner and acumen helped the younger members of the staff retain that Osler-like equanimity and calm. He was an example to all and Alfred Hospital proudly remembers him.

His post-war residents remember him for his punctuality, lucid clinical teaching, and especially his kindness and consideration for patients and the nursing staff.

He remained a bachelor and enjoyed club life, being a member of the Yorick, Naval and Military and Melbourne Clubs. In latter years, when his activities were curtailed by peripheral vascular disease leading to early retirement from Alfred Hospital in 1957, he developed an interest in the arts, read a good deal and played bowls. He died in 1966 soon after his sixty-fifth birthday.