Education
University of Nottingham.
University of Nottingham.
Time Out described him in 2006 as a "former child quiz prodigy and a rising star of the quiz world". Bjortomt"s success on television has been rather moderate compared with that of his teammates in the national team, and he describes himself as a "choker" (see Q&A link). He appeared on the quiz show Fifteen to One four times, finishing as a series runner-up in 2002.
He captained the University of Nottingham team to the quarter-finals in the 1999/2000 series of British Broadcasting Corporation"s University Challenge, and according to the credits of the show as of 2012, is currently a question setter.
When he appeared on the Channel 4 quiz show Grand Slam in 2003, commentator James Richardson described him as the "Wayne Rooney of the quiz world." In 2007, Bjortomt competed in The National Lottery People"s Quiz and was the first contestant to qualify for the grand final, answering 97 per cent of his questions correctly during the show. In 2008, he appeared in the quiz programme Battle of the Brains.
On 10 October 2008 he appeared on Mastermind, scoring eight points on questions about West Indies Test cricket, and fourteen in the General Knowledge section, to finish in second place. In 2008 and 2009 he unsuccessfully competed in Are You an Egghead?, which attempts to find another player to join the existing team
He works for The Times newspaper in London and has set the weekday times2 quiz since July 2005.
He has a History degree from the University of Nottingham and a Postgraduate Diploma in Newspaper Journalism from Nottingham Trent University. Bjortomt is currently a question setter for University Challenge. He regularly appears in amateur productions in his home town Littlehampton, recently appearing as Omar Little in a re-enactment of thirteen of the best scenes from The Wire.
He has two younger sisters and a younger brother.