James Trevor Oliver was born May 27, 1975 in Clavering, Essex. A son of parents who owned a pub-restaurant called The Cricketers, Jamie helped in the pub kitchen when he was still a child. By the time that he was 11, he was already skilled in vegetable preparation and chopped “like a demon.” He attended Newport Free Grammar School and Westminster Catering College. He worked at The Neal Street Restaurant and at the River Café, where he was discovered by producer Patricia Llewellyn. Pleased with his ability to stay natural in front of the camera, Llewellyn got him to host The Naked Chef in 1998. The program shot Jamie to prominence and it was soon followed with more TV shows and book deals.
Using his wealth and fame,
Jamie Oliver conceptualized and founded Fifteen charity restaurants, a place where he trains disadvantaged young people and helps them prepare for a job in the hospitality industry. Fifteen now has branches in London, Amsterdam, Cornwall and Melbourne. In 2005, Jamie received the Beacon Fellowship Prize for his contribution to the disadvantaged youth. Jamie Oliver also boasts of his four top-class restaurants around the world that train hard-to-reach young people, especially those in prison, and give them a job. In England, he challenges the junk food culture and campaigns for the banning of unhealthy food in schools. He also taught cafeteria workers how to prepare healthy and cost-efficient meals for the students. Jamie is married to wife Jools and has two daughters namely Poppy and Daisy.
Jamie Oliver is one of the judges on ABC's
Oprah's Big Give . A reality game show, it features 10 contestants who are given large sums of money. The contestants compete against each other in finding “the most powerful, sensational, emotional and dramatic ways to give to others.” Oliver finds it brilliant that the show took genuinely good people and pushed the boundaries to see how good they could be to other people. “It makes you laugh, it makes you cry — it stuns you, surprises you, and there's always something around the corner. You'll see normal, everyday people be heroes,” he said.
(Photo courtesy of ABC)