Jamie Oliver

Biography

He grew up in a small Essex village called Clavering. He formed the band Scarlet Division with Leigh Haggerwood in 1989. His first TV break came in 1996 when he was "discovered" by television producer – Pat Llewellyn – while working at the River Café in London. She saw him on a documentary called "Christmas at the River Café" – and recognised his star potential immediately.

Two highly successful series of "The Naked Chef" were filmed in 1998 and 1999. And On June 24, 2000 he married Juliette Norton, also known as Jools. The couple currently have two daughters – Poppy Honey (born in 2002) and Daisy Boo (born in 2003).

In June 2003 he was appointed an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. He set up the Fifteen charity restaurant where he trains 15 disadvantaged young people to work in the hospitality industry. He hopes to set up similar restaurants elsewhere in the UK as well as Sydney and New York City.

He recently announced plans to relocate to a country house outside New York City. He told Night and Day magazine: "It's my wife's idea. She's talked about it for three years. I haven't a clue why."

He has also written columns for The Times.

Television shows

The first series that featured Jamie Oliver was "The Naked Chef" on BBC Television. The title was a reference to the simplicity of Oliver's recipes, and nothing to do with nudity. The success of the programme led to "Return of the Naked Chef" and "Happy Days with the Naked Chef". His work on the Fifteen restaurant was shown as "Jamie's Kitchen" and "Return to Jamie's Kitchen" on Channel Four. His programmes are shown in over 40 countries, including the USA's Food Network, where he is the second most popular presenter. His latest show in the United States is "Oliver's Twist".

In the United Kingdom Oliver fronted a campaign to improve the quality of children's school dinners. Jamie's School Dinners is the TV series tied into this campaign. Following on from the campaign the UK government pledged to spend £280m on school dinners (spread over three years), although they denied that the pledge was made in response to the campaign.

Books

• The Naked Chef
• Happy Days with the Naked Chef
• The Naked Chef Takes Off
• Jamie's Kitchen
• Jamie's Dinners

External links