Refers to a person who cooks professionally, typically in a restaurant or commercial kitchen. More formal than コック and less specific than シェフ.
彼は一流ホテルの調理人だ。
He is a chef at a first-class hotel.
調理人としての経験を積むために、小さなレストランで働き始めた。
To gain experience as a cook, I started working at a small restaurant.
コック is a more casual, slightly dated term for a cook, often used in Western-style restaurants.
Compound of 調理 (cooking) and 人 (person). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word follows a common pattern for occupational nouns.