Jamie Oliver is a British chef born on May 27, 1975, in Clavering, United Kingdom. As a child he worked in his parent’s restaurant, thus influencing his career direction. At age 16, he attended Westminister Catering College and then gained valuable experience working at several reputable restaurants. His break into television came when he appeared in a documentary while working at the River Café in London. From there, he gained fame after hosting a hit cooking show, The Naked Chef. Multiple cookbook publications and restaurant openings followed. Throughout the 2000s, he championed healthier eating for school children in the U.S. and U.K n 1997, Jamie was featured in a television documentary about the River Café. Soon after the documentary was aired, Jamie was offered his own television show and The Naked Chef was born. The concept behind The Naked Chef was to strip food down to its bare essentials and Jamie's hands-on style and general laid back outlook was like a breath of fresh air, inspiring everyone to cook and winning himself a BAFTA Award for the best television series in the Features Category in 2000.
In addition to Jamie's television programmes and books, Jamie works with top UK supermarket chain, Sainsbury's, advising them on how to further improve the quality and variety of supermarket food. He has also designed a number of ranges of quality tableware and serveware with Churchill China. Working with Tefal (T-Fal), Jamie has launched a number of ranges of cookware including the Jamie Oliver Professional Series. Jamie has also launched an Italian food range and has a wide range of gift foods, which are distributed internationally. Jamie has also turned inventor and developed a great kitchen gadget called the Flavour ShakerTM, which launched in the UK in 2005 and then internationally.
Jamie's seventh book, Cook With Jamie was published in the UK in October 2006 and quickly became a massive best-seller. All of Jamie's profits from this book go to the Fifteen Foundation to help more young people to start a career in the catering industry.
Through 2006 and early 2007, Jamie filmed a series and wrote a book both called 'Jamie At Home'. He had been successfully growing fruit and vegetables and herbs at his Essex farmhouse since 2004 and the book and series reflected his new love of gardening organically as well as featuring delicious recipes inspired by the produce of his garden. The series 'Jamie At Home' quickly became a hit in the UK and in a variety of international markets while the accompanying book 'Jamie At Home' also proved to be one of Jamie's biggest sellers both in the UK and overseas.
Jamie's major project for 2008, however, was Jamie's Ministry of Food, a Channel 4 TV series which showed how people who couldn't cook could be inspired to cook with just a little encouragement and information. The series, filmed in Rotherham, explored how friends, family and work-mates could be inspired to pass on recipes to each other and cook using fresh ingredients. Additionally, a Ministry of Food centre set-up by Jamie in the town centre has been providing information, cooking lessons and advice to the townsfolk who want to move away from