Born in Oliver, British Columbia,[3] Barisoff owned a trucking company and served as a volunteer firefighter before entering politics.[4] He was also a trustee with School District 53 for 18 years, including eight years as the district's chair.[3][4]
With the Okanagan-Boundary riding dissolved ahead of the 2001 election, he ran in Penticton-Okanagan Valley and was re-elected there.[4] The Liberals gained power in that election, and Barisoff was appointed to the cabinet that June to serve as Minister of Provincial Revenue; he was re-assigned as Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection in January 2004.[7]
He was re-elected MLA in 2005, and was chosen as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly that September.[4][6] In 2009 he won re-election in the renamed riding of Penticton, and continued as speaker.[1][4] He faced criticism in 2012 following a report from the province's auditor general stating that basic accounting practices were not followed in the legislature, such as asking for receipts when approving MLA expenses; Barisoff was responsible for overseeing the legislature's budget ($63 million as of 2012) in his capacity as speaker.[8] He announced in August 2012 that he would not run in the next election.[1][5][6]
He and his wife Edna have three sons together.[3][4]