Jamie Oliver
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Jamie Trevor Oliver (born May 27, 1975), also known as the Naked Chef, is a British celebrity chef.
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Biography
Jamie grew up in a small Essex village called Clavering. His parents own a pub called 'The Cricketers'. He formed the band Scarlet Division with Leigh Haggerwood in 1989. He attended Westminster Catering College when he was 16. 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 met in 1993 and currently have two daughters, Poppy Honey (born in March 2002) and Daisy Boo (born in April 2003).
He has been part of a financially successful advertising campaign by the Sainsburys supermarket chain, featuring him on his scooter, promoting their healthy food. The BBC were unhappy with the adverts and in February 2002, dropped ideas for a future series called Olivers Army, where he would train 16 unemployed young people to learn how to cook. Channel 4 quickly seized the moment and produced the series, known as Jamie's Kitchen.
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 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 has 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 heartily denied that the pledge was made in response to the campaign.
Books
He has written several successful cookbooks. These include:
- The Naked Chef
- Happy Days with the Naked Chef
- The Naked Chef Takes Off
- Jamie's Kitchen
- Jamie's Dinners
External links
- Oliver's Twist website from Food Network (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_jo/0,1976,FOOD_9975,00.html/)
- Jamie Oliver's website (http://www.jamieoliver.com/)
- Jamie Oliver fan site (http://www.jamieskitchen.net/)
- BBC Jamie Oliver biography (http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/chef_biogs/m.shtml#jamie_oliver)
- Return to Jamie's Kitchen web page (http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/J/jamie/)
- Jamie's Band (http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/scarletdivisionfanclub/)
- Jamie's School Dinners (http://www.channel4.com/schooldinners)
- Jamie's "Feed me better" campaign site (http://www.feedmebetter.com)
- Internet Movie Database. (http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0646871)
- BBC Article. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4394025.stm)
An unrelated Jamie Oliver plays the turntables for Welsh rock band Lostprophets.de:Jamie Oliver eo:Jamie OLIVER fr:Jamie Oliver ro:Jamie Oliver sv:Jamie Oliver