James "Jamie" Trevor Oliver,
MBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 27 May 1975), sometimes known as
The Naked Chef, is an English
chefA celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become famous and well known. Today celebrity chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations via mass media, especially television. Historically, celebrity chefs have included Antoine Carême and Martino da Como.-External...
,
restaurateurA restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
and
media personalityA celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
, known for his food-focused television shows, cookbooks and more recently his campaign against the use of processed foods in national schools. He strives to improve unhealthy diets and poor cooking habits in the United Kingdom and the United States. Jamie Oliver's speciality is Italian cuisine, although he has a broad international repertoire.
Life and career
Jamie Oliver was brought up in Clavering, Essex, England. His parents ran a pub, "The Cricketers", where he used to practise in the kitchen. He was educated at
Newport Free Grammar SchoolNewport Free Grammar School, in Newport, Essex, England was founded in 1588. The school is a mixed comprehensive school with a sixth form. It previously existed in different forms including a boarding school and a grammar school. The Headteacher is Mr Seán O' Hagan and the Deputy headteachers are...
. He left school at age sixteen without qualifications and went on to attend
Westminster Kingsway CollegeWestminster Kingsway College is a further education college in central London with Centres in King's Cross and Victoria . The College has about 14,000 students across all age ranges and provides further, adult and higher education programmes including full-time and part-time vocational,...
, formerly Westminster College. . He then earned a City & Guilds NVQ in home economics. His first job was as a
pastry chefA pastry chef or pâtissier is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods...
at
Antonio CarluccioAntonio Carluccio, OBE OMRI is an Italian chef, restaurateur and food expert, based in London.-Biography:Antonio Carluccio was born in Vietri sul Mare, Salerno, Italy. His father was a stationmaster, and he moved with his father's job when he was young and grew up in Piedmont...
's Neal's Yard restaurant, where he first gained experience of Italian cuisine. Oliver then moved to
The River CaféThe River Café is a restaurant in the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London, England, specializing in Italian cuisine. It is owned and run by chef Ruth Rogers and until early 2010, Rose Gray....
,
FulhamFulham is an area of southwest London in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, SW6 located south west of Charing Cross. It lies on the left bank of the Thames, between Putney and Chelsea. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London...
, as a sous chef, where he was noticed by the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 1997 after making an unscripted appearance in a documentary about the restaurant, "Christmas at the River Cafe". That year, his show
The Naked Chef debuted and his cookbook became a number one best-seller in the UK. That same year, Oliver was invited to prepare lunch for then Prime Minister
Tony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
at No.
10 Downing Street10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
.
Personal life
In July 2000, Oliver married former model Juliette Norton. The couple met in 1993 and have four children: Poppy Honey Rosie Oliver (born 18 March 2002), Daisy Boo Pamela Oliver (born on 10 April 2003), Petal Blossom Rainbow Oliver (born on 3 April 2009) and Buddy Bear Maurice Oliver (born on 2 September 2010). Oliver announced the births of the two youngest children on Twitter. The family live in
Clavering, EssexClavering is a village and also a parish in north-west Essex in England. The name 'Clavering' means 'place where clover grows'.-Location and local area:...
.
Ancestry
In 2009 Oliver claimed to be of partial
SudanSudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
ese ancestry via his great-great grandfather John, whom he described as “a bit swarthy with curly hair”. However, research for the
Sunday Express established that John's father James was a hatter from
PenzancePenzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...
, and that James' father Richard was also Cornish, leaving little or no possibility of a Sudanese connection. The family legend of Sudanese ancestry may have originated in the 19th century when John Oliver returned from sea, possibly with a tanned complexion after visiting Africa.
Notable career milestones
In 2000, Oliver became the face of the UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's through an endorsement deal worth £2 million a year. After 11 years the partnership between Oliver & Sainsbury's is to come to an end. The final television advert will be for Christmas 2011.
Putting up his house as collateral without telling his wife, Oliver created the Fifteen Foundation in 2002. Each year, fifteen young adults who have a disadvantaged background, criminal record or history of drug abuse, are trained in the restaurant business.
In 2003, he was awarded an MBE.
In 2005, he initiated a campaign called "Feed me Better" in order to move British schoolchildren towards eating healthy foods and cutting out junk food. As a result, the British government also pledged to address the issue. Delving into politics to push for changes in nutrition resulted in people voting him as the "Most Inspiring Political Figure of 2005," according to a Channel 4 News annual viewer poll.
His emphasis on cooking healthily continued as he created
Jamie's Ministry of Food, a television series where Oliver travelled to inspire everyday people in
RotherhamRotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...
, Yorkshire to cook healthy meals. Another television series is
Jamie Oliver's Food RevolutionJamie Oliver's Food Revolution is a television series which premiered on ABC on March 21, 2010...
(2010–2011), where he travels first to
Huntington, West VirginiaHuntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was 49,138 at...
and then to Los Angeles to change the way Americans eat and address their dependence on fast food.
Oliver's
holding companyA holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
, Sweet As Candy, has made enough profit for Oliver to have been listed on
The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
list of richest Britons under 30.
It was reported in October 2009 that Oliver is in the process of raising US$22 million to help fund 30 of his Italian restaurants in Asia.
In December 2009, Oliver received the 2010 TED Prize.
Charity and campaigning
Oliver conceived and established the Fifteen charity restaurant where he trained fifteen disadvantaged young people to work in the hospitality industry. Following the success of the original restaurant in London, more Fifteens have opened around the globe: Fifteen Amsterdam opened in December 2004, Fifteen
CornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
in Newquay opened in May 2006 and Fifteen Melbourne opened in September 2006 with Australian friend and fellow chef
Tobie PuttockTobie Puttock is an Australian celebrity chef, best known for his association with British chef Jamie Oliver.-Cooking career:Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Puttock trained at Box Hill Institute of TAFE, and first worked at Caffe e Cucina in South Yarra...
.
Oliver then began a formal campaign to ban unhealthy food in British schools and to get children eating nutritious food instead. Oliver's efforts to bring radical change to the school meals system, chronicled in the series
Jamie's School Dinners, challenged the junk-food culture by showing schools they could serve healthy, cost-efficient meals that kids enjoyed eating. Jamie's efforts brought the subject of school dinners to the political forefront and changed the types of food served in schools.
In June 2003, Oliver was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. He has also written columns for
The TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
. A great proponent of fresh organic foods, Oliver was named the most influential person in the UK hospitality industry when he topped the inaugural Caterersearch.com 100 in May 2005. The list placed Oliver higher than Sir Francis Mackay, the then-chairman of the contract catering giant
Compass GroupCompass Group plc is a global contract foodservice and support services company headquartered near London, United Kingdom. It is the largest contract foodservice company in the world and has operations in over 50 countries...
, which Oliver had soundly criticised in
Jamie's School Dinners. In 2006, Oliver dropped to second on the list behind fellow celebrity chef
Gordon RamsayGordon James Ramsay, OBE is a Scottish chef, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded 13 Michelin stars....
. In July 2010, Jamie regained the top spot and has been named as the most powerful and influential person in the UK hospitality industry once again.
In December 2009, Oliver was awarded the 2010 TED Prize for his campaigns to "create change on both the individual and governmental levels" in order to "bring attention to the changes Englanders and now Americans need to make in their lifestyles and diet."
In 2010, Oliver joined several other celebrity chefs on the series
The Big Fish Fight. In the series, Oliver, along with fellow chef Gordon Ramsay, spent time on a trawler boat to raise awareness about the discarding of hundreds of thousands of saltwater fish because the fisherman are prohibited from keeping any fish other than the stated target of the trawl.
Oliver is a patron of environmental charity
Trees for Cities-History:The charity was founded in 1993, initially as Trees for London to "advance the education of the public in the appreciation of trees and their amenity value, and in furtherance of this the planting and protection of trees everywhere, and in particular inner city areas"...
.
Advertising
From 1998, Oliver was the public face of the
Sainsbury'sJ. Sainsbury plc is the parent company of Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd, commonly known as Sainsbury's, the third largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom with a share of the UK supermarket sector of 16.5%....
supermarket chain in the UK, appearing on television and radio advertisements and in-store promotional material. The deal earned him an estimated £1.2 million every year. By 2004, the company had made 65 advertisements with Oliver, but this arrangement has not been without controversy. Oliver was reported to have admitted that he does not use supermarkets, saying “For any chef, supermarkets are like a factory. I buy from specialist growers, organic suppliers and farmers". He was also said to have been criticised by Sainsbury's CEO
Justin KingJustin Matthew King, CBE is a British businessman, who is the CEO of J Sainsbury plc, parent company of the supermarket chain Sainsbury's.King was previously Director of Food at Marks and Spencer and has held senior positions at Asda...
when he slammed the "junk" sold by supermarkets that ends up in the lunchboxes of millions of children. King reportedly hit back, saying: "Dictating to people – or unleashing an expletive-filled tirade – is not the way to get engagement."
Oliver has also a line of non-stick pans and cookware for
TefalTefal is a French cookware and small appliance manufacturer owned by Groupe SEB. Its name is a portmanteau of the words TEFlon and ALuminium.Tefal is known for creating the non-stick cookware category....
and has appeared in Australian television commercials for
YalumbaYalumba is a winery located near Angaston, South Australia in the Barossa Valley. It was founded by a British brewer, Samuel Smith, who emigrated to Australia with his family from Wareham, Dorset in August 1847 aboard the ship 'China'. Upon arriving in Australia in December, Smith built a small...
wines, using
Del Boy'sOnly Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
catchphrase of "Lovely Jubbly".
Television shows
Oliver's programmes are shown in over 40 countries, including the USA's
Food NetworkFood Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
.
Oliver's Twist and
Pukka Tukka picked up where
The Naked Chef left off. More recently, Oliver has appeared in campaigning programmes to improve food in schools and the cooking skills of the average person.
The Naked Chef (1998–1999) was Oliver's first series. The title was a reference to the simplicity of Oliver's recipes and has nothing to do with nudity. Oliver has frequently admitted that he was not entirely happy with the title, which was devised by producer
Patricia LlewellynPatricia Llewellyn is a British television producer and current Managing Director of the television production company, Optomen...
. (In the UK edit of the show, the opening titles include a clip of him telling an unseen questioner, "No way! It's not me, it's the food!") The success of the programme led to the books
Return of the Naked Chef and
Happy Days with the Naked Chef.
Series guide:
- Series 1 (6 editions): 14 April 1999 to 16 June 1999
- Series 2 (8 editions): 12 April 2000 to 31 May 2000
- Series 3 (8 editions): 16 October 2001 to 4 December 2001
- Special "Christmas comes early": 21 December 1999
- Special "Christmas in New York": 20 December 2000 - Jamie undertakes a stage
Staging is when a cook or chef works briefly, for free, in another chef's kitchen to learn and be exposed to new techniques and cuisines.A stage normally is used to see how a new chef or cook can adapt to the current environment in the kitchen...
in New York
- Special "Christmas Party": 19 December 2001
Pukka Tukka was launched in 2000 on Channel 4.
Oliver's Twist was launched in 2002.
Jamie's KitchenJamie's Kitchen is a five-part British documentary television series that aired on Channel 4 from 5 November to 10 December 2002. It follows chef Jamie Oliver as he attempts to train a group of fifteen disadvantaged youth, who will — if they complete the course — be offered jobs at Oliver's new...
was a five-part 2002 documentary series. It followed Oliver as he attempted to train a group of disadvantaged youths, who would, if they completed the course, be offered jobs at Oliver's new restaurant "Fifteen". This was followed by
Return to Jamie's Kitchen in 2003.
Jamie's Kitchen Australia was a ten-part 2006 television series, similar to
Jamie's Kitchen, that was based in and aired in Australia.
Jamie's School DinnersJamie's School Dinners is a landmark four-episode documentary series broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK from 23 February to 16 March 2005. The series was recorded between Spring to Winter 2004, in which it featured TV chef Jamie Oliver attempting to improve the quality and nutritional value of school...
(2005) was a four-part documentary series. Oliver took responsibility for running the kitchen meals in
Kidbrooke SchoolKidbrooke School opened in 1954 as the first purpose-built comprehensive school in Britain. The school is located on Corelli road and near the Kidbrooke area of the London Borough of Greenwich...
,
GreenwichGreenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
, for a year. Disgusted by the unhealthy food being served to schoolchildren and the lack of healthy alternatives on offer, Oliver began a campaign to improve the standard of Britain’s school meals. Public awareness was raised and subsequently the British Government pledged to spend £280m on school dinners (spread over three years). Tony Blair acknowledged that this was a result of Oliver's campaign. Following the success of the campaign, Oliver was named "Most Inspiring Political Figure of 2005" in the Channel 4 Political Awards 2006. In episode 2 of
Jamie's School Dinners, Oliver's Fifteen London restaurant was visited by former US President
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. Clinton asked to see Oliver; however, Oliver refused: 36 showed up for a booking of 20 and many of them were on a
South Beach DietThe South Beach Diet is a diet plan designed by cardiologist Arthur Agatston and dietician Marie Almon as an alternative to low-fat approaches such as the Ornish Diet and the Pritikin Diet advocated by the American Heart Association in the 1980s. Although the original purpose of the diet was to...
and refused the special menu that had been prepared, even though it had been approved in advance.
Jamie's Great Italian Escape, a six-part
travelogueTravel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...
series, was first broadcast on
Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in Britain in October 2005. It follows Oliver as he travels around Italy in a blue VW van (plus a trailer for cooking). He is about to turn 30 and this is his personal adventure to rediscover his love of cooking.
Jamie's Return To School Dinners
Jamie's Chef (2007) was a four-part series continuing where
Jamie's Kitchen left off. Five years and fifty trainees later, Oliver's most recent series aims to help the winning trainee establish their own restaurant at The Cock, a pub near
Braintree, EssexBraintree is a town of about 42,000 people and the principal settlement of the Braintree district of Essex in the East of England. It is northeast of Chelmsford and west of Colchester on the River Blackwater, A120 road and a branch of the Great Eastern Main Line.Braintree has grown contiguous...
. The charitable Fifteen Foundation retains ownership of the property and has provided a £125,000 loan for the winner,
Aaron Craze, to refurbish the establishment. As of 13 January 2008, the Cock has closed down and reopened as a regular pub.
Jamie at Home (2007) featured Oliver presenting home-style recipes and gardening tips, with many ingredients coming from his substantial home garden.
Jamie at Home airs on the Food Network in the United States. Due to licensing restrictions, only two recipes from each
Jamie at Home episode appear online; also, access to recipes is limited to users within the United States.
Jamie's Fowl Dinners (2008) was a special with Jamie backing
Hugh Fearnley-WhittingstallHugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a British celebrity chef, television personality, journalist, food writer and "real food" campaigner, known for his back-to-basics philosophy...
's "Hugh's Chicken Run" in trying to get the British to eat
free rangethumb|250px|Free-range chickens being fed outdoors.Free range is a term which outside of the United States denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals are allowed to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner. In the United States, USDA regulations apply only to poultry and...
chickens.
Jamie's Ministry of FoodJamie's Ministry of Food was a four part series that aired from 30 September to 21 October 2008.-Premise:The series was based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire...
(2008) was a four-part series that aired from 30 September to 21 October 2008. It was based in Rotherham,
South YorkshireSouth Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...
. Oliver aimed to make the town "the culinary capital of the United Kingdom" and tried to get the town's inhabitants to learn how to cook fresh food and establish healthy eating as part of daily life. The 'Pass It On' campaign also featured in this series with the local townspeople being taught one of a selection of recipes and passing it on to family members and friends. The 'Pass It On' campaign gained a following on the social networking website Facebook which has a group and fan page with users signing up to chart their progress.
What's Cooking? with Jamie OliverWhat's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver is a cooking video game for the Nintendo DS narrated by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver. It was developed and published by Atari, Inc. and released in North America on October 21, 2008, and in Europe on October 24.The game features several recipes, each listing...
(2008) is a video game with Oliver narrating.
Jamie Saves Our Bacon (2009) was part of Channel 4's British Food Fight Season, a thematic sequel to
Jamie's Fowl Dinners. In the special, Oliver looks at the state of pig farming in the UK and EU. It was broadcast on 29 January 2009.
Jamie's American Road Trip (2009) was a Channel 4 series following Jamie who, rather than visit fancy restaurants and top chefs, meets and learns from real cooks making honest food for working people at street stalls, off-road diners and down-to-earth local restaurants. Along the way, he picks up new recipes and experiences tastes old and new, as well as learning how other cultures adapt when they come to the USA.
Jamie's Family Christmas (2009) was short series (5 episodes) on Channel 4 with Oliver cooking traditional and new Christmas dishes. More unusually this series includes members of Oliver's family: a family member (wife, children, sister etc.) appears in a supporting role with the preparation of particular recipe interspersed with more traditional Jamie alone delivery to an off-camera person. First broadcast 15 December 2009.
Jamie Oliver's Food RevolutionJamie Oliver's Food Revolution is a television series which premiered on ABC on March 21, 2010...
was a series that aired during 2010 and 2011 on
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in the United States. In the first season, Oliver visited Huntington, West Virginia, statistically one of the unhealthiest cities in the USA, to try to improve its residents' eating habits. In 2010, the show won an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Programme. In the second season Oliver visited Los Angeles, California where his crusade to change school meals was met with resistance. Oliver was ultimately barred from filming at any Los Angeles public school. The show's cancellation was announced by ABC in May 2011, two weeks before the final episode of the season had aired. The program also aired in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 under the title
Jamie's American Food Revolution, and in Australia on Channel 10 under the original title.
Jamie Does (2010) or
Jamie Oliver's Food EscapesJamie Oliver's Food Escapes is a 2011 television series in which Chef Jamie Oliver travels across Europe and North Africa to find authentic ingredients and extraordinary characters. Oliver stops in Marrakesh, Athens, Andalusia, the French Pyrenees, Venice and Stockholm and uses local ingredients in...
(2011, American title) is a Channel 4 series of 6 episodes following the success of
Jamie's American Road Trip. Oliver travels across Europe and North Africa, cooking local dishes.
Jamie's 30 Minutes MealsJamie's 30 Minutes Meals is a series of 40 episodes aired on Channel 4 in which Jamie Oliver cooks a three to four dish meal in under 30 minutes.- Episodes :...
(2010) was Channel 4 series of 40 episodes aired during October–November. The programme focused on home-cooked meals that could be put together within the titular timeframe, using simple 'not cheffy' techniques. There was also an emphasis on educating viewers about the cooking processes themselves.
Jamie's Dream SchoolJamie's Dream School is a seven-part British television documentary series made by Fresh One Productions, first aired on Channel 4. In it, Jamie Oliver enrols a group of teenagers with fewer than five GCSEs into his "Dream School" - a school in which lessons are taught by celebrities who are...
(2011) is a Channel 4 series that looks at young people’s educational problems and attempts to uncover whether they are down to personal circumstance, society, or the education system itself. It also examines how the new teachers get on as they try to translate their real-life expertise into the realities of the classroom. The experts include scientist Professor
Robert WinstonRobert Maurice Lipson Winston, Baron Winston is a British professor, medical doctor, scientist, television presenter and politician.-Early life and education :...
, historian
David StarkeyDavid Starkey, CBE, FSA is a British constitutional historian, and a radio and television presenter.He was born the only child of Quaker parents, and attended Kendal Grammar School before entering Cambridge through a scholarship. There he specialised in Tudor history, writing a thesis on King...
, barrister
Cherie BlairCherie Blair , known professionally as Cherie Booth QC, is a British barrister working in the legal system of England and Wales. She is married to the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair; the couple have three sons and one daughter...
, journalist and political aide
Alastair CampbellAlastair John Campbell is a British journalist, broadcaster, political aide and author, best known for his work as Director of Communications and Strategy for Prime Minister Tony Blair between 1997 and 2003, having first started working for Blair in 1994...
, actor
Simon CallowSimon Phillip Hugh Callow, CBE is an English actor, writer and theatre director. He is also currently a judge on Popstar to Operastar.-Early years:...
, artist
Rolf HarrisRolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...
, musician
Jazzie BTrevor Beresford Romeo OBE , better known by his stage name Jazzie B, is a British DJ, music producer, and entrepreneur. He is a founding member of Soul II Soul.-Life and career:...
and Olympic gold medallist
Daley ThompsonFrancis Morgan Ayodélé "Daley" Thompson CBE , is a former decathlete from England. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four times....
.
Jamie advertised with the
Daily Mail in October 2011.
Jamie's Fish Supper (2011) was a one-hour special show in which Oliver cooked 10 fish recipes as a part of Big Fish Fight campaign.
Jamie Cooks Summer (2011) was a one-hour special in which Oliver cooked summer dishes in various outdoor locations.
Other television appearances
Oliver has twice guest-hosted Channel 4's
The Friday Night ProjectThe Sunday Night Project was a British comedy-variety show by Princess Productions that first aired on Channel 4 in February 2005 under the title The Friday Night Project...
.
He has also made two appearances in the "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car" segment of
BBC TwoBBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
's
Top GearTop Gear is a British television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars. It began in 1977 as a conventional motoring magazine show. Over time, and especially since a relaunch in 2002, it has developed a quirky, humorous style...
. His first appearance was notorious for his attempt to make a green salad in the back of his Volkswagen Microbus while
the StigThe Stig is a character in the British motoring television show Top Gear. The character plays on the anonymity of racing drivers' full-face helmets, with the running joke that nobody knows who, or indeed what, is inside the character's racing suit. The character was the creation of presenter Jeremy...
drove it around the Top Gear test track.
Oliver is the second British celebrity chef (after
Robert IrvineRobert Irvine is a celebrity chef who has appeared on a variety of Food Network programs, including Dinner: Impossible, Worst Cooks in America, and Restaurant: Impossible.-Career:Irvine began his cooking career upon enlisting in the Royal Navy at the age of fifteen...
) to appear as a challenger on
Iron Chef AmericaIron Chef America: The Series is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the...
, taking on Iron Chef
Mario BataliMario Batali is an American chef, writer, restaurateur and media personality. In addition to his classical culinary training, he is an expert on the history and culture of Italian cuisine, including regional and local variations. Batali co-owns restaurants in New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles,...
in 2008 in a losing battle with
cobiaCobia —also known as black kingfish, black salmon, ling, lemonfish, crabeaters, aruan tasek, etc.—are perciform marine fish, the sole representative of their family, the Rachycentridae.-Description:...
as the theme ingredient.
He starred as one of the judges in the 2008 US series
Oprah's Big GiveOprah's Big Give is a reality television series that aired Sunday nights at 9:00 PM Eastern/8:00PM Central on ABC, and is hosted by Nate Berkus. The Big Give is produced by Harpo Productions, and created and produced by Oprah Winfrey, and also produced by Bert Van Munster and Elise Doganieri...
hosted by
Oprah WinfreyOprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
on ABC (America).
He guest starred as himself in the "Meatloaf Surprise" episode of
Phineas and FerbPhineas and Ferb is an American animated television comedy series. Originally broadcast as a preview on August 17, 2007, on Disney Channel, the series follows Phineas Flynn and his English stepbrother Ferb Fletcher on summer vacation. Every day the boys embark on some grand new project, which...
.
Live shows
The Happy Days Live tour was Oliver's first live show in 2001 and included several dates in the UK and Australasia. Performing to sold-out venues, he cooked on stage and interacted with the audiences with competitions, music and special effects only usually seen in pop concerts. He took the audiences by surprise by singing and drumming to a song called
Lamb Curry written by his longtime friend
Leigh HaggerwoodLeigh Haggerwood is a contemporary composer based in London. He specializes in songwriting, keyboards, singing, music production, audio engineering and sound-to-picture scoring...
. Oliver appears at the BBC Good Food show each year and took to the road once more in 2006 on an Australian tour where he performed in Sydney and Melbourne. Following the entertaining format of his first live show, the 2006 Australian tour featuring special guests including mentor
Gennaro ContaldoGennaro Contaldo, co-owned and was executive chef of the now-closed Passione restaurant, in Charlotte Street, London, UK. Contaldo grew up in the small village of Minori on the Amalfi Coast, developing his love for food from days he spent hunting with his father and grandfather, and collecting...
, and students from Fifteen London. Oliver also performed a new song written by Leigh Haggerwood called
Fish Stew which Jamie cooked to and also drummed along to at the end of the show. The shows were a great success and are featured in a one-off TV documentary called
Jamie Oliver: Australian Diary.
Controversy and criticism
In 2005, Oliver was widely criticised by animal rights groups for slaughtering a fully conscious lamb on his TV show, while
PETAPeta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...
praised Oliver for showing the killing uncensored, claiming that it highlighted problems with the methods used within slaughterhouses for viewers at home. PETA spokesman Sean Gifford said that it "could turn the more diehard carnivore into a vegetarian." British TV regulator
OfcomOfcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
reported they had seven complaints from the public.
Oliver has been known for his comments about other chefs and has spoken out against
Marco Pierre WhiteMarco Pierre White is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur and television personality. He is noted for his contributions to contemporary international cuisine, and his exceptional culinary skills....
, who has been critical of Oliver in the past, and the notorious swearing of Gordon Ramsay.
In 2005, Oliver embarked upon his school dinners campaign to improve the quality of food fed to pupils. While the campaign was arguably successful,
at the time it was a highly controversial shake-up for students and parents, some of whom believed that the students should have a healthy option available, but still be given the choice as to what they want to eat. In September 2006, Rawmarsh Community School, South Yorkshire, UK, made headlines after a handful of parents revolted against Oliver's lunch plan (in which all 1,100 pupils on site were fed two portions of fruit and three vegetables every day) by delivering junk food from local shops to the pupils through the school fence. One parent dismissed Oliver's food as "disgusting rubbish" and declared, "Food is cheaper and better at the local takeaways.”
Since his early years, his
accentIn linguistics, an accent is a manner of pronunciation peculiar to a particular individual, location, or nation.An accent may identify the locality in which its speakers reside , the socio-economic status of its speakers, their ethnicity, their caste or social class, their first language In...
, which is often described as "
mockneyMockney is an affected accent and form of speech in imitation of Cockney or working class London speech, or a person with such an accent...
" or "fake
cockneyThe term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
," has become famous—particularly the use of the
HindiStandard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
word "pukka" (colloquially meaning "authentic" or "first-rate", originally "cooked" or "ripe").
In 2008 Jamie revealed on
Chris MoylesChristopher David Moyles is an English radio and television presenter and author, who currently presents The Chris Moyles Show on BBC Radio 1 and Chris Moyles' Quiz Night on Channel 4....
' Radio 1 show that he had never cooked a hard boiled egg (as a dish in itself). Jamie volunteered the information, with some embarrassment, when discussing
Delia SmithDelia Smith CBE is an English cook and television presenter, known for teaching basic cookery skills. She is the UK's best-selling cookery author, with more than 21 million copies sold....
's infamous 'How to boil an egg' gaffe. Jamie's reputation survived intact.
In 2011, Oliver, an advocate of cooking meals from scratch and using local produce, caused controversy after it turned out the sauces used in Jamie's Italian in Glasgow were from an industrial park almost 400 miles away in
BicesterBicester is a town and civil parish in the Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in England.This historic market centre is one of the fastest growing towns in Oxfordshire Development has been favoured by its proximity to junction 9 of the M40 motorway linking it to London, Birmingham and...
. Oliver and Gordon Ramsay are spokeschefs for the "Big Fish Fight," which campaign for sustainable seafood, but were criticised for their use of endangered fish.
Also many of the meals Oliver suggested for students in the USA were priced at $7, while the actual budget was $1.25.
Scarlet Division
In 1989 at age 13, Oliver and friend
Leigh HaggerwoodLeigh Haggerwood is a contemporary composer based in London. He specializes in songwriting, keyboards, singing, music production, audio engineering and sound-to-picture scoring...
formed Scarlet Division, a Britpop/rock band. Oliver played the drums in the group. Their single, "Sundial," reached number 42 on the UK pop charts in 2000. Shortly after, Oliver left the band to focus on his cooking career. The band reunited briefly in 2002, but broke up for good in 2003.
Pop culture
Oliver was mentioned in the
South Park episode "
Medicinal Fried Chicken"Medicinal Fried Chicken" is the third episode of the 14th season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 198th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on March 31, 2010...
". Eric Cartman, one of the main characters, is ordered by Colonel Sanders to stop him from delivering his speech against KFC. He is also featured in the later episode "
Crème Fraiche"Crème Fraiche" is the 14th episode and season finale of the 14th season of American animated series South Park. It is the 209th episode overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 17, 2010. In the episode, Stan's life is reduced to shambles both at home and in school...
". Oliver cries while trying to convince celebrity chef
Bobby FlayRobert William "Bobby" Flay is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur and reality television personality. He is the owner and executive chef of 12 restaurants: Mesa Grill in Las Vegas, New York City, and the Bahamas ; Bar Americain in New York City and Uncasville, Connecticut; Bobby Flay Steak...
that kids' food should be healthy.
Books
- Something for the Weekend, ISBN 0-1410-2258-2
- The Naked Chef, ISBN 0-7868-6617-9
- The Return of the Naked Chef, ISBN 0-7181-4439-2
- Published in America as The Naked Chef Takes Off, ISBN 0-7868-6755-8
- Happy Days with the Naked Chef, ISBN 0-7868-6852-X
- Jamie's Kitchen, ISBN 1-4013-0022-7
- Jamie's Dinners, ISBN 1-4013-0194-0
- Jamie's Italy, ISBN 0-7181-4770-7
- Cook With Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook , ISBN 0-7181-4771-5
- Jamie's Little Book of Big Treats, ISBN 0-1410-3146-8
- Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life, ISBN 978-0718152437
- Jamie's Ministry of Food: Anyone Can Learn to Cook in 24 Hours, ISBN 978-0718148621
- Published in America as Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals, ISBN 978-1401323592
- Jamie's Red Nose Recipes, ISBN 978-0141041780
- Jamie's America, ISBN 978-0718154769
- Jamie does... Spain, Italy, Sweden, Morocco, Greece, France, ISBN 978-0718156145
- Jamie's 30-minute Meals, ISBN 978-0718154776
Further reading
- List of social entrepreneurs
- Stafford Hildred, Jamie Oliver: The Biography (2001) ISBN 1-903402-55-7
- Gilly Smith, Jamie Oliver: Turning Up the Heat (2006) ISBN 0-233-00168-9
- Gilly Smith, Jamie Oliver: The Kitchen Crusader (2006) ISBN 978-1-86200-414-6
External links