Jamie Oliver's Biography
Who is Jamie Oliver?
Jamie Oliver was born on 27 May 1975.After studying at Westminster Catering College, Jamie Oliver began cooking at his parents' pub, The Cricketers in Clavering, Essex.
Jamie Oliver spent a spell working in France and then became head pastry chef at The Neal Street Restaurant under Antonio Carluccio in London.
After becoming sous chef at The River Cafe under Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers, Jamie Oliver was consultant chef at Monte's in Knightsbridge until 2002 when he established the restaurant Fifteen.
Jamie Oliver's fame spread through his television shows. His cheeky chappie style, employing the words 'pukka' and 'wicked' with regularity, proved popular and the The Naked Chef enjoyed three series and was followed by Jamie's Kitchen and Return to Jamie's Kitchen.
His television work led to a rewarding advertising contract with Sainsbury's and books sales in the millions.
In 2002, Jamie Oliver took 15 disadvantaged young people, new to cooking, and transformed most of them into chefs to work under him at his new restaurant Fifteen, whose profits go to a charity he has established called Cheeky Chops, which provides training and mentoring for disadvantaged young people.
In June 2003, Jamie Oliver was awarded the MBE.
In February 2005, a four-part series, Jamie's School Dinners, started where Jamie Oliver was faced with 500 mouths to feed on a budget of 37p per meal.
In the series, Jamie Oliver slammed the poor quality of many school dinners, and his campaign was a catalyst for the government to spend an extra £280m over three years on improving school meals.
Jamie Oliver picked up two awards at the National Television Awards 2005 - Jamie's School Dinners won the most popular factual programme and Jamie also won a 'special recognition' award.
Since then Jamie Oliver has hosted another television series, C4's Jamie's Great Escape.
Jamie Oliver lives in London with his wife, Jools and their daughters, Poppy, Daisy and Petal. Jools Oliver told the Telegraph magazine in an interview around her book Minus Nine To One, that Jamie Oliver and her had undergone fertility treatment before Poppy and Daisy were born.
Jamie Oliver drove a sperm sample across London on his moped.
In April 2009, Jools Oliver gave birth to another daughter, Petal Blossom Rainbow.
One of Jamie Oliver's proudest moments was being invited to cater for Tony Blair at an Anglo-Italian summit, and the Prime Minister asking for a doggy bag.
Channel 4 appointed Jamie Oliver to deliver their Alternative Christmas Message in 2005.
In 2006, Jamie Oliver was the first man to appear on the cover of Good Housekeeping since King George VI appeared with Queen Elizabeth to commemorate his coronation back in 1937.
In 2007, Jamie Oliver fronted Jamie's Chef on Channel 4, where four of his proteges competed for the chance to set up their own restaurant.
Also, in 2007, Channel 4 scheduled the 12 part series Jamie at Home, where Jamie Oliver returns to his Essex roots.
In November 2007, Channel Four announced that together with Gordon Ramsay and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Jamie Oliver was involved in a special food season as part of its winter schedule.
In Jamie's Fowl Dinners, Jamie Oliver reveals how chickens go from the farm to the fork.
In January 2008, The Guardian revealed how Jamie Oliver, who is paid £1.2m a year to be the face of Sainsbury's, wrote an open letter to Sainsbury's staff, apologising for criticising the supermarket over its involvement on Jamie's Fowl Dinners.
In September 2008, Jamie Oliver's Channel 4 series, Jamie's Ministry of Food, began being broadcast.
Oliver said of Jamie's Ministry of Food: "If School Dinners was Star Wars, this is The Empire Strikes Back."
In October 2008, it was announced that Jamie Oliver was going on a road trip across the US for his new Channel 4 show, Jamie in America, after signing a deal keeping him at Channel 4 for a further two years.
Jamie Oliver also broadcast on American TV a popular series called Food Revolution.
In 2010, he hosted the Channel Four series Jamie Does ..., in which he visited a variety of destinations, for example, in the first programme it was Marrakesh.
Apart from TV, his business interests include Jamie's Italian restaurants, and a magazine called Jamie.
In 2010, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution won an Emmy for the best outstanding reality programme.
In September 2010, Jamie and Jools Oliver had a baby boy, Buddy.
In 2010, Jamie's 30-Minute Meals became the fastest selling non-fiction title of all time in the UK.
In 2011, he hosted the Channel 4 series Jamie's Dream School.
His other TV shows include collaborations with Jimmy Doherty such as Jamie & Jimmy's Food Fight Club and Jamie & Jimmy's Friday Night Feast.
In August 2016, Jamie and Jools Oliver announced the birth of a son, their fifth child.
In September 2016, Jamie Oliver started presenting a new series Jamie's Family Super Foods on Channel Four.
In March 2017, Media Guardian reported that Jamie Oliver had signed a contract extending his exclusive relationship with Channel 4 to 17 years.
It included a new eight-part TV series, Jamie’s Quick & Easy, first broadcast on Channel Four on 21 August 2017.
In 2018, Jamie Oliver closed various restaurants including 12 of his 37 Jamie's Italian restaurants.
In May 2019, Jamie Oliver's restaurant group went into administration.
In 2024, the BBC commissioned Jamie's son Buddy to host a series called Cooking Buddies.
Back to Top
