As the host of HBO'S Last Week Tonight, John Oliver has firmly established himself as a
leading voice in late night with his unique brand of biting satire, stupid antics, and
nuanced political commentary.
Well, mostly nuanced.
"It's like a flamingo in boxer shorts named Phineus J. Rocketdump ran for President under
the slogan 'time to get serious.'"
Following a three-month hiatus, Oliver made his triumphant return to television in the
fifth season premiere of Last Week Tonight in February 2018.
Let's take a moment to get to know this guy a bit better with some fascinating facts you
may not know about John Oliver.
UK career
While Oliver's career didn't take off as explosively in his home country as it later did in the
States, he still managed to build a steady career in comedy.
Most notably, during his early years, he established an extensive partnership with fellow British
comedian Andy Zaltzman.
He also appeared multiple times as a guest panelist on the comedy news quiz show Mock
the Week between 2005 and 2006.
That show gave Oliver a place to flex his comedic muscles, putting his inclination for
observational comedy and absurd tangents on display.
"Is it Bob's owl fight aftermath?
He didn't stand the chance, the owl had the high ground and kept swooping."
Football dreams
Oliver's actual lifelong dream was not to be a comedian, but rather a footballer for
Liverpool, a team he's loved his entire life.
"Supporting Liverpool was very much not a choice; that was pointed out to me pretty
strenuously at an early age."
Oliver explained: "[Being a comedian] is not what I wanted – this
is a distant plan B."
And as they say, never meet your heroes.
In an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Oliver described the time he got to meet the
Liverpool team in the locker room after a game.
"And at that moment, the entire Liverpool team, completely naked emerged through the
steam."
"Just waving a hands-less hello."
"And I still… it's changed, it's changed.
My relationship's changed."
Daily Show disciple
John Oliver has mentioned several times how much he adores Jon Stewart.
He told Rolling Stone:
"I guess I'm as much as a disciple of his as it's possible to be.
The fact that there is nothing so far that he has not taught me.
So I feel like he is my DNA."
Oliver hosted The Daily Show in the summer of 2013 while Stewart directed Rosewater.
Just before his hosting stint, he told The New York Times:
"I'll do anything for him, whether it's hosting this show or disposing of a body.
I guess I was just happy it was the first of those two choices, and I wasn't taking
a trip to the East River under the cover of darkness."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, it was Stewart who advised Oliver to take HBO's offer
for Last Week Tonight, even though that meant leaving Stewart's show.
He still remembers his emotional response to Stewart's surprise send-off on his last
day.
"I worked there for seven and a half years, you know; he's one of my favorite people in
the world."
Workaholic
It seems like John Oliver is always working — and happily so.
During his time at The Daily Show, he somehow managed to balance his responsibilities as
a writer and correspondent for the show with his commitments to The Bugle, weekend stand-up
gigs, and various charity events.
In the same piece, Jon Stewart chimed in to rationalize Oliver's intense level of dedication
to his work, saying:
"I prefer to think of it as he has a wonderful work ethic.
I prefer to think of it in the positive.
John and I share that two-dimensional ability to focus on the thing we're probably most
happy and comfortable doing, which is working."
In February 2017, Seth Meyers attested to this fact during Oliver's appearance on Late
Night, noting that even when Last Week Tonight is off the air, Oliver is hard at work.
"People should not think that you have been kicking back."
"No, I'm not sure I've ever kicked back in my life."
The 'John Oliver Effect'
Oliver makes it clear that even though his jokes are based on important issues, in the
end, they're still just jokes.
"Tonight I'm going to take on pinatas.
Or as they should be called, 'Trojan Donkeys of Diabetes.'"
As he rationalized to NPR:
"You can't build jokes on sand.
You can't be wrong about something — otherwise that joke just disintegrates.
[...] You try to be as rigorous as you can in terms of fact-checking because your responsibility
is to make sure that your joke is structurally sound."
"Our main story tonight concerns food, or as plants and animals might called it, 'the
afterlife.'"
Still, the real impact Oliver's show has on the world has been so significant that Time
dubbed it the "John Oliver Effect" in 2015.
The Huffington Post even compiled a list of the policy changes Last Week Tonight has reportedly
influenced.
But Oliver remains exceedingly uncomfortable with the idea of being the country's comedic
conscience.
When Rolling Stone brought up the idea in an interview, Oliver replied:
"If that's true, the canary in the coal mine is dead.
It's way too much responsibility, and I have no interest in accepting that."
Or maybe that's just his distaste for birds talking again.
"I have a brief message for the birds of the Northeast as they begin their journey southward.
Uh, are you listening, birds?
Here goes.
F--- you, birds!"
Family man
Oliver is pretty private when it comes to his personal life, but when he does talk about
his wife and son, it becomes clear just how important his family is to him.
Oliver met his wife, Kate Norley, at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul,
Minnesota — romantic, right?
"She's an Iraq war veteran and I met her in St. Paul when I was getting chased by security."
Oliver and Norley are now happily married and have a son named Hudson, who was born
in November 2015.
While balancing their busy careers with family life, these two often showcase their love
and support for one another.
Oliver told the New York Daily News that Norley is one of his "heroes," saying:
"I'm incredibly proud of her for everything that she did and has done and is continuing
to do and supporting everyone who she has served with.
She went through a lot and I got to hear all the stories what it was like from her."
And during an interview with Rolling Stone, he opened up about fatherhood as well, saying:
"[My son] had a pretty difficult time, and it was not the easiest pregnancy as well.
It was a level of trauma throughout his gestation and birth, and in the aftermath.
So, yeah, it did feel weird doing a comedy show during some of that.
And you probably feel things more keenly."
He also told Ellen DeGeneres that he dreads the day when his son grows up enough to understand
more of what's happening in the world.
"And you have a little boy, he's two years old."
"Yeah!"
"And what do you feel about that?"
"At the moment, he doesn't really understand what's happening in the world and I dunno
how long that may continue."
Lawsuit
A Last Week Tonight segment on the coal industry got Oliver into some legal trouble in June
2017.
The story largely focused on Murray Energy Corporation, and specifically criticized the
company's CEO Bob Murray for mistreating his employees and attempting to weaken industry
safety regulations.
Despite receiving a cease and desist letter from the Murray Energy Corporation, Last Week
Tonight aired the episode.
"So as we have been explicitly told to cease and desist.
Let us do neither of those things and let's talk about Bob Murray."
But things went so much further than just talking.
"Eat s---, Bob!"
"Thank you Mr. Nutter Butter!"
The coal magnate promptly hit Oliver, HBO, and Time Warner with a defamation lawsuit.
A judge dismissed the case in February 2018, citing Oliver's First Amendment rights.
"It's not a time for gloating, it's not a time for saying 'Hey, we won' and just rubbing
it in the face."
Marlon Bundo
Last Week Tonight made headlines once again with its March 2018 story on Vice President
Mike Pence.
After combing through Pence's history of anti-LGBTQ views, the show highlighted a children's book
released by the Pence family about their pet rabbit, Marlon Bundo.
The segment resulted in Last Week Tonight announcing the release of their own children's
book, A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, which followed the same rabbit on a very different
adventure.
"Our story is about Marlon Bundo falling in love with another boy rabbit because our Marlon
Bundo is gay."
With proceeds being donated to The Trevor Project and AIDS United, the parody book caused
a media frenzy as it soared to the top spot on Amazon - outselling the Pence family's
book.
"I did hear, unfortunately, we have sold out.
Because we were not anticipating people really buying it."
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