Mike was born in Gore, and his family lived in the small town of Waikoikoi until he was nine years old. He started working in radio and television after he finished high school and attended NZ Broadcasting School.

From 1995 until 2015, Puru was a radio DJ on The Edge. In October 2012, he became one of the inaugural TV presenters on New Zealand's first Yesshop home shopping channel. In 2015 and 2016 he hosted the first two seasons of The Bachelor New Zealand, and from 2016 to 2020, he was co-host of Three's morning show The Cafe. Since then, he's been a host on The Hits radio station, along with other radio broadcasting roles.