Background

Jamie Oliver was born on May 27, 1975, in Clavering, England, the United Kingdom. He has one sibling, sister Anne-Marie. His parents, Trevor and Sally Oliver, ran The Cricketers in Clavering, Essex, where Jamie learned to cook in the kitchen with his parents. From the age of eight, the budding chef was earning £1 an hour pocket money helping out in the kitchen and began pulling pints behind the bar by the time the tender age of 10.

Education

Jamie Oliver was educated at Newport Free Grammar School. At age 16 Oliver left school with two GCSE qualifications in Art and Geology and entered the Westminster Catering College before traveling to France for additional training and experience. He later obtained a City and Guilds National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in home economics.

Career

Although Oliver started his career as a pastry chef at Antonio Carluccio's Neal's Yard under his mentor Gennaro Contaldo, it was as a sous chef at The River Cafe that Jamie Oliver was recognized and was catapulted onto a world cooking platform. His show, The Naked Chef debuted on BBC Two on April 14, 1999, and ran for three seasons.

In 2000, he launched Pukka Tukka on Channel 4 and signed a $2-million deal with the United Kingdom supermarket chain Sainsbury's. Although it made him richer by $1.2 million every year, the relationship soured due to his disdain for supermarkets.

In 2002 he established the Fifteen Foundation, a London-based program that gave underprivileged youths the opportunity to experience careers in the culinary industry at Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant. The success of the project, chronicled in the television series Jamie’s Kitchen, spurred Oliver’s plans to expand the program throughout the United Kingdom and overseas.

In 2003, the four-part sequel to Jamie’s Kitchen, Return to Jamie’s Kitchen was launched. He was voted the Most Inspiring Political Figure for the Feed Me Better campaign that worked toward cutting out junk food in the diets of British schoolchildren. The British Government pledged $280 million on school dinners.

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 for him as the Most Inspiring Political Figure of 2005, according to a Channel 4 News annual viewer poll.

In June 2008, he launched Jamie's Italian, a business venture in England, and followed it up with Jamie's Fowl Dinners the same year. Jamie Saves Our Bacon, which aired in 2009, drew the world’s attention to pig farming in the United Kingdom and European Union. He followed that up with Jamie’s American Road Trip and Jamie’s Family Christmas. Later that year, he raised $22 million to fund his Italian restaurants in Asia.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution’ aired in 2010, attempted to improve the eating habits of city residents. For the first season, Oliver visited Huntington, West Virginia, statistically one of the unhealthiest cities in the United States. The show won an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Programme. For the second season to be aired in 2011, Oliver chose Los Angeles. However, his attempts to make changes in school meals in Los Angeles were rebuffed and he was barred from shooting there and the show was canceled.

2011 was a particularly hectic year for Oliver. He worked on Jamie’s Dream School, Jamie’s Fish Supper, Jamie Cooks Summer, and Jamie’s Britain. In 2012, he appeared on MasterChef Australia and scored higher than the three contestants he was up against. He also worked on Jamie & Jimmy’s Food Fight Club and invested in the Maison Publique, Montreal.

Oliver’s later shows included Jamie’s 15-Minute Meals (2012) and Jamie’s Comfort Food (2014), both of which also inspired books, and Jamie & Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast (2014). Oliver published Jamie Magazine, which launched in the United Kingdom in 2009; a United States edition premiered in 2012.

In 2017, however, the magazine folded. In addition, although he narrowly staved off the collapse of his chain Jamie's Italian in 2017, Oliver ultimately succumbed to financial difficulties in May 2019 with the announcement that his restaurant business was being placed into bankruptcy protection.

Achievements

• 

  Jamie Oliver was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours List for his services to the Hospitality Industry. In 2009, he was awarded the 2010 TED Prize for his campaign to ban unhealthy food in British schools. In 2013, Jamie Oliver was inducted into the Culinary Hall of Fame. He is England’s second best-selling author, after J. K. Rowling.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Jamie's Red Nose Recipes

    (This book will contain 12 delicious recipes you can cook ...)

    2009
  • Jamie's 30-Minute Meals

    (In his new book, Jamie's 30-Minute Meals, Jamie proves th...)

    2010
  • Jamie's Dinners: The Essential Family Cookbook

    (Cooking sensation Jamie Oliver returns with a cookbook de...)

    2004
  • Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook: For the Best Christmas Ever

    (Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook is packed with all the ...)

    2016
  • Jamie's Italy

    (Bestselling author Jamie Oliver finally devotes an entire...)

    2005
  • 7 Ways: Easy Ideas for Every Day of the Week

    (7 Ways to reinvent your favorite ingredients with more th...)

    2020
  • Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food: The Ultimate Weekend Cookbook

    (From Jamie Oliver, the Emmy Award-winning television chef...)

    2014
  • Everyday Super Food

    (This is the most personal book I've ever written, and in ...)

    2015
  • Jamie Cooks Italy

    (Jamie returns to cooking the food he loves the most, gett...)

    2018
  • Jamie's Kitchen

    (With over 100 delicious recipes, Jamie shows that anyone ...)

    2002
  • Jamie Oliver's Great Britain: 130 of My Favorite British Recipes, from Comfort Food to New Classics

    (Having grown up in his parents’ gastropub, Jamie Oliver h...)

    2011
  • Jamies 15-Minute Meals

    (Jamie’s 15 Minute Meals is a classic cookbook meant to ar...)

    2012
  • Jamie's Friday Night Feast

    (Packed with show-stopping dishes for the weekend and spec...)

    2018
  • Super Food Family Classics

    (Freshen up your meals with Jamie's essential collection o...)

    2016
  • Return of the Naked Chef

    (The bestselling, brilliant young chef is back with a seco...)

    2000
  • Happy Days with the Naked Chef

    (Jamie Oliver believes in finding the best ingredients and...)

    2001
  • 5 Ingredients: Quick & Easy Food

    (Jamie Oliver - one of the bestselling cookbook authors of...)

    2017
  • Save with Jamie Shop Smart, Cook Clever, Waste Less

    (Save with Jamie draws on knowledge and cooking skills to ...)

    2013
  • Veg: Easy & Delicious Meals for Everyone

    (Jamie Oliver is back with brilliantly easy, flavor-packed...)

    2019
  • Jamie at Home : Cook Your Way to the Good Life

    (An excellent resource for both gardening and cooking the ...)

    2007
  • Jamie's Ministry of Food: Anyone Can Learn to Cook in 24 Hours

    (Sixty years ago food was in short supply and malnutrition...)

    2008
  • Jamie's America

    (Jamie Oliver travels around the USA in search of the perf...)

    2009
  • The Naked Chef

    (Naked does not limit the food! Jamie Oliver, a.k.a. the N...)

    1999
  • Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook

    (My guide to making you a better cook. I can't tell you ho...)

    2006
  • Jamie Does...

    (Jamie Does... is Jamie Oliver's personal celebration of a...)

    2010
  • Jamie's Little Book of Big Treats 2007

• movie

  • Funky Food for Comic Relief: Red Nose Day

    (Jamie Oliver has come up with 12 new recipes and four the...)

    2003

Religion

Jamie Oliver is non-religious. He once said during a food-related trip to an Italian monastery: "I don’t even know what religion I am. I think I might be Church of England… food is my religion, and the dinner table is my altar."

Politics

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. He petitioned the government for funds and to increase training for school cooks so they can offer healthier food. Oliver has been at the forefront of the food debate, pointing out the cost-of-milk controversy and singling out corporations that don’t label dangerous ingredients or promote packaged, processed food as healthy.

In the end, Oliver gave up on any assistance from governments, saying: "I’ve given up on politics… governments are too short-term, they’re too transient. They’re like ships that pass in the night and they really don’t understand."

Jamie once said of the Royal Family: "Anyone says anything about them and I'll be all over them. I'm a royalist, these guys are brilliant, bloody brilliant."

Views

In 2010, Jamie Oliver joined several other celebrity chefs to raise awareness of the discarding of saltwater fish. He also encourages people not to throw away food and draws attention to the problem of food-wasting.

Quotations: "The public health of five million children should not be left to luck or chance."

"In England, you're allowed to have an opinion - as long as it comes out of your mouth."

Personality

Jamie Oliver's severe dyslexia meant he never read a full novel until recently. He read his first novel, Catching Fire, for the first time in 2013, at the age of 38.

Interests

• Collecting driftwood

• Writers

  Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

• Sport & Clubs

  Soccer

• Athletes

  David Beckham

• Music & Bands

  The Killers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Strokes

Connections

Oliver married former model Juliette Norton, in 2000. The pair have been together for more than 20 years and have five children together; Poppy Honey Rosie, Daisy Boo Pamela, Petal Blossom Rainbow, Buddy Bear Maurice, and River Rocket.

Father:

Trevor Oliver

Mother:

Sally Oliver

Spouse:

Juliette Norton

Daughter:

Daisy Boo Pamela Oliver

Daughter:

Poppy Honey Rosie Oliver

Daughter:

Petal Blossom Rainbow Oliver

Son:

Buddy Bear Maurice Oliver

Son:

River Rocket Blue Dallas Oliver

Acquaintance:

Oprah Winfrey

References

• Jamie Oliver Official Website