Few chefs can boast a cooking empire quite like British culinary superstar Jamie Oliver.
But his journey has certainly had its ups and downs — and he's definitely transformed
quite a bit since his early days. Here's what's happened to Jamie Oliver over the years.
Oliver's background often surprises his fans. In an interview for Flow, the chef explained
his humble beginnings, saying,
"I grew up a real country boy [...] in the county of Essex, about 18 miles from Cambridge."
He went on to explain that his parents were solidly "working class," even though people
often thought otherwise. He said,
"I have no idea why all these people I met later with my food show The Naked Chef on
TV thought I was some privileged rich kid who went to a private school."
His working class background wasn't always easy. Oliver explained to Flow that he helped
out in his parents' pub from the age of 5. However, this taught him something important
— having a good work ethic. As he put it,
"[My parents taught me] how to treat others with respect and friendliness, and how to
stay polite even when you're stressed and your feet are killing you. [...] If you want
to get anywhere, you have to roll up your sleeves and get on with it."
Even though Oliver showed plenty of promise in the kitchen, he wasn't quite so prolific
in the classroom. In fact, as he revealed in the 2019 documentary Oliver: The Naked
Chef Bares All, his dyslexia made his time in school extra difficult. As a result, he
was actually at the bottom of his class. He confessed,
"I left school resenting education so much. I felt angry towards the concept of revision."
It's clear that Oliver had skills, even if they weren't necessarily academic. In fact,
when he went to culinary college after graduating high school, he quickly shot to the top of
his class. Oliver recalled,
"It was such a relief to start getting good marks."
Unlike some other multimillion dollar TV stars, Oliver doesn't have a scandalous dating history.
In fact, he settled down with his childhood sweetheart. As his wife Jools explained to
Made By Mammas, the pair met when they were still teenagers. She admitted,
"When I first met him he was a drummer and that's what got me, rock star image you know!
He was quite popular so I thought, 'I want a piece of that', and he was very cool and
the man about town."
Apparently, they've been going strong ever since.
Sounds like Jools and Oliver were smitten from day one. In 2019, Oliver shared a throwback
image of his wife on Instagram for her 45th birthday. He wrote,
"She's a wonderful, kind, extraordinary person who I'm so proud to call my wife and she's
still smoking."
It turns out, Oliver was never aiming for a career in television. As he revealed in
Oliver: The Naked Chef Bares All, his first TV appearance was basically an accident. It
all happened when the BBC decided to film in a restaurant where Oliver happened to work.
Apparently, Oliver wasn't even working on the day of filming. He explained,
"I remember, because me and Jools hadn't had a night off together in so long."
When he was called in to the restaurant to work last minute, he almost didn't go in.
But Oliver's famous work ethic prevailed. He added,
"[B]ut my dad had always taught me to treat other people's business like our own family
business. So, the only answer was yes."
When he arrived at the restaurant, he had his first taste of working with food for the
camera — and audiences at home saw him for the first time. The special aired in 1997
and, as Oliver's parents recalled, all of their friends spotted him on TV.
After his fluke appearance cooking on the BBC, Oliver was quickly offered a more permanent
TV role. By 1999, he'd been given his very own cooking show, The Naked Chef. As one interview
from The Guardian recalled, he was an incredibly likeable, easy-going guy in those days. The
interviewer claimed he was also unaffected by his newfound fame, and added,
"His whole shtick was that he was truly impossible to dislike. There was no front to him, no
armour."
"When I started cooking was for girls and then a few years later we managed to convince
everyone that cooking got you girls and that was the kind of turning point."
Despite Oliver's easy-going nature, it's clear that big things were coming for the young
TV star. The same year the show debuted, he also released a cookbook, which quickly became
a bestseller. He was even invited to cook for Tony Blair, the UK's prime minister at
the time, according to the New York Times. There's no doubt about it — 1999 was a huge
turning point in the young chef's career.
Television wasn't the only thing on Oliver's mind in the early days of his career — he
also wanted to continue working in restaurants. So, in 2002, at the age of 27, he opened his
very own restaurant, Fifteen. As You magazine reported, this first restaurant was designed
to bring quality food to mid-market diners. It seems that opening a restaurant was a real
dream come true for Oliver — much more than being on TV. As he told The Guardian a few
years later,
"When I was 14 I thought I'd like to run a pub in an Essex village."
His first restaurant soon expanded to a restaurant chain of eateries called Jamie's Italian.
By 2009, the chain had made plans to expand to Asia. Over the years, he opened 25 restaurants
in the UK.
In the chain's early days, things seemed to be going well. As Oliver told the Londonist,
"Everyone who's visited Jamie's Italian has wanted to come back again and again."
Even though Oliver's career was definitely only getting better and better, it turns out,
the pressure was actually becoming a little too much for the young star. In 2010, he opened
up to Radio 5 about the pressures of public life and constant filming. Apparently, his
busy schedule meant that he became a, quote, "weekend dad," leaving his wife to care for
their kids. According to The Telegraph, Oliver had previously said that he planned on quitting
public life by 2008. However, his fame grew and he kept on working.
As he revealed in the interview, Oliver's marriage was definitely suffering as a result
of his fame. He admitted,
"There's a natural sort of tempo to having a relationship, and it's not brilliant all
the time but it goes through lovely cycles."
One of Oliver's most enduring legacies is his work as a campaigner. As The Guardian
explained, the chef set about on a dedicated campaign to improve school lunches, teach
kids about cooking, and end childhood obesity.
"And I've took the liberty of putting in just the five years of elementary school sugar
just from milk.”
Most of his campaigns took the form of TV documentaries. And as the chef confessed,
it wasn't always easy work. He admitted,
"I hate making TV documentaries because it takes quite a lot of energy to know that you're
going to get you arse kicked and people will hate you, or fight you, for large proportions
of time."
He went on to explain that his famous show School Dinners resulted in about a year and
a half of abuse. As Oliver summed it up,
"I don't particularly enjoy doing the stuff I'm most proud of."
Oliver ended up also creating Jamie's Ministries of Food, a campaign of teachers and volunteers
designed to, quote, "get people cooking again and inspiring them to eat better and more
nutritious food." As Oliver explained to Green Living, this campaign was all about childhood
obesity. He said,
"Food skills have been lost, and schools and families aren't teaching them, so our Centers
are doing that."
While fame brought relationship problems for Oliver, it also brought other personal problems,
too. In his candid interview for The Guardian, the superstar chef confessed that fame had
the bizarre effect of making him feel less understood. He said bluntly,
"No one understands me. No one. My wife doesn't even understand me in terms of what I want
to do."
As Oliver explained, with fame came lots of press — and with press, came a lot of assumptions
about his motives. He went on to say,
"Everyone thinks everything's about money."
Oliver explained that most people seemed to assume he did what he did for the monetary
rewards. He seems to be well aware of how plenty of members of the public see him. But
for him, the work was more about making a difference. He explained,
"There's still lots of people who don't like me. You can tell that if you go on any blog.
I annoy lots of people."
When it comes to his personal life, Oliver has always been a dedicated family man. As
he told The Guardian,
"Family first, always, always."
However, he has faced some criticism in the past for some of his parenting methods. He
explained to Woman Magazine,
"[My wife and I] use an app to keep track of our kids' whereabouts."
While some people may find this parenting method a little over-the-top, Oliver clarified
that it was a system that really worked. He added,
"If one of the girls says, 'I'm going to Camden Town,' and I can see they've gone to Reading,
then we have a problem. They can check on me, too, and see how fast I'm driving. It's
brilliant."
In his Guardian interview, he also revealed that he and his wife followed the Gina Ford
method. As he explained,
"Gina's basically just a structured routine, and it's quite a lot to remember, but it does
work. It's like communism."
One thing about Oliver is crystal clear — he works incredibly hard. However, over the years,
the famous chef has learned to slow down a little and pace himself.
"I realized it was too much work"
As he explained to Balance in 2018, at the beginning of his career, Oliver used to struggle
with getting enough sleep. He confessed,
"I went through six years of about three hours sleep, just working too hard."
However, eventually, this lifestyle became too difficult to maintain. He added,
"I went through a revelation, and over the last eight years have started spending time
with sleep scientists."
By 2018, he was getting around six hours of sleep a night — which, in Oliver's words,
is "on the cusp of acceptable."
Things took a real nosedive for Oliver in 2019. In a shocking turn of events, the majority
of his restaurants went into administration and were forced to close. For the TV chef,
this sad ending to his restaurant empire was a huge blow. As he told You magazine, it was
the "toughest year of [his] life."
"It's really eerie and I don't like it."
Apparently, he was determined to save his restaurant group, and even put in over 5 million
dollars of his personal savings. When the business finally collapsed, Oliver was heartbroken.
He told the publication,
"It is what it is, but I think that's been very physically, mentally, and financially
tough. [...] That was a tough one to swallow."
When pressed about his emotions, the chef reportedly welled up. But for Oliver, this
failure was just a temporary set back. The same year, he announced a new overseas restaurant
chain in Asia.
In addition to his new overseas ventures, Oliver has other big plans for the future.
These days, his quest to end childhood obesity is his main concern. As he told Balance in
2018,
"I have made a decision to go all out for the next 12 years to get things where they
should be. And then, I will happily f---ing retire."
He explained that while he had considered leaving his grueling work behind to see more
of his five kids, he is determined to see his campaign through. And it's a mission he
feels proud of. As he put it,
"I like to think that I'm not mad and if I fail while trying, that's not bad. I'd like
to think we are doing the right thing at the right time."
It sounds like Oliver's very best work is yet to come. One thing's for sure — he'll
leave behind an incredible legacy when he finally decides to call it quits.
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