Jamie’s Oliver, Cooking Influencer, Biography

Even if he was beggining his career as a pastry chef at Antonio Carluccio’s Neal’s Yard, with his mentor Gennaro Contaldo, it was as  chef at ‘The River Cafe’ that he was recognized and sent into a global cuisine platform.

His show, ‘ The Naked Chef ‘, debuted on BBC Two on April 14, 1999 and ran for three seasons.

In 2000, he launched ‘ Pukka Tukka ‘ on Channel 4 and signed a $2 million deal with UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s. Although he would make her $1.2 million each year, the relationship soured due to his disdain for supermarkets.

In 2002, his show, ‘ Jamie’s Kitchen ‘, a documentary series, he had a successful run. The show was following the chef as he attempted to train a group of fifteen socially disadvantaged persons.

The concept of the show was including that those persons who completed the course would be offered jobs at his new restaurant, ‘ Fifteen ‘. Of the fifteen contestants, five managed to get a job.

In 2003, the century to ‘Jamie’s Kitchen’, ‘ Return to Jamie’s Kitchen ‘, was coming out. He has been voted ‘Most Inspiring Political Figure’ by the ‘Feed Me Better’ campaign which worked to take out junk food from the diets of children from UK. The British government has pledged to spend $280 million on school meals.

‘ Jamie’s Great Italian Escape ‘ was a six-part travel series launched in 2005, in which the chef traveled in Italy in a blue VW van recounting his personal experiences and showcasing his adventures with cooking. The following year, ‘ Jamie’s Kitchen Australia ‘ was broadcast in Australia.

In June 2008, he launched ‘ Jamie’s Italian ‘, a commercial campaign in his country and followed up with ‘ Jamie’s Fowl Dinners ‘ later that year. ‘ Jamie Saves Our Bacon ‘, which coming out in 2009, brought pig farming in the United Kingdom and the EU to the world’s attention. He was following up up with ‘ Jamie’s American Road Trip ‘ and ‘ Jamie’s Family Christmas ‘.  

‘ Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution ‘, broadcast in 2010, attempted to improve the eating habits of city peoples. Meanwhile the first season, Oliver visited Huntington, West Virginia, one of the most harmfull cities in America. The show won an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program. 

For the second season that was on air in 2011, he chose city of Los Angeles. However, his attempts to make changes to school dinners in Los Angeles were stopped and he was restricted from filming there and the show was cancelled.

‘ Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals ‘ aired in 2010 and focused on simple, home-cooked meals that could be prepared in 30 minutes. 2011 was a particularly eventful year for Oliver . He worked on ‘ Jamie’s Dream School ‘, ‘ Jamie’s Fish Supper ‘, ‘ Jamie Cooks Summer ‘ and ‘ Jamie’s Britain ‘.

In 2012, he appeared on MasterChef Australia and scored higher than all three contestants he faced. 

He also worked on ‘ Jamie’s 15-Minute Meals ,’ ‘ Jamie & Jimmy’s Food Fight Club ,’ and invested in Maison Publique, Montreal. In 2013, he became chef and owner of ‘ Jamie Oliver’s Diner ‘.

In 2003, this celebrity chef was taken an award the Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s Birthday Honours. In 2009, he received the 2010 TED Prize for his campaign to ban unhealthy food in British schools.

Jamie Oliver Advertising

From June 2000, he became the public face of the Sainsbury’s supermarket chain in the UK, appearing in television and radio advertisements and in-store promotional material. The deal earned him roughly £1.2m each year, although neither J. Sainsbury nor Oliver have ever disputed the exact figure.

By 2004, the company had made 65 adverts with him, but the arrangement was not without controversy. He is reported to have admitted that he does not use shops, despite regularly having “product placement” in his early television series.

He criticized Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King when he criticized the “rubbish” that shops sell and that ends up in millions of children’s lunchboxes. King reportedly responded by saying, “Dictating to people, or unleashing an expletive-filled tirade, is not the way to get compromise.”

In July 2011, after eleven years, the partnership betweenhim and Sainsbury’s ended. The final TV spot was for Christmas 2011. 

In August 2013, him and shops chain Sobeys made a partnership to make better the national advertising and nutrition campaigns.

In October 2013, he began a business with the shops chain Woolworths Supermarkets for healthier food. 

In January 2016, him and HelloFresh, made a collaboration to incorporate their recipes into weekly subscription deliveries. 

People receive a recipe written by Jamie Oliver with all the exact ingredients and what they need for the meal. HelloFresh also agreed with the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation per Meal Box in addition to supporting other activities of the Foundation. 

In September 2018, he made some recipes  for Tesco and he was involved in promoting the shop’s food products. 

Jamie Oliver Charity And Campaigns

He conceived a charity restaurant, where he trained young people with no privilege to work in the hospitality industry.

Oliver’s Ministry of Food campaign began in 2008 with the Channel 4 series of the same name and the opening of the first Ministry of Food Center in Rotherham. Since then, further MoF centers have opened in Bradford, Leeds, Newcastle/North-East, Stratford (now known as the Food Academy) and Alnwick. 

Ministry of Food in Australia hubs and trucks have opened in Ipswich, near Brisbane and Geelong, Melbourne. Australian state governments provided funding for these centers.

In December 2009, he received the 2010 TED Prize for his campaigns to “create change at both individual and government levels” to “draw attention to the changes that the English, and now Americans, need to make in their lifestyles and diet”. 

In 2010, he joined several other celebrity chefs in The Big Fish Fight series , in which he and fellow chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Gordon Ramsay performed a variety of shows to raise awareness of the discarding hundreds of thousands of saltwater fish because fishermen are prohibited from keeping fish that are not the declared target of the trawl.

He is a patron of the environmental charity Trees for Cities. 

Jamie Oliver Awards And Honors

In June 2003, he was awarded the MBE in Queen’s Birthday Honours. A pro of fresh bio food, he was named the most important person in the England hospitality industry when he topped the inaugural Caterersearch.com 100 in May 2005.

In 2006, he fell to second place on the list behind celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. In July 2010, he reclaimed the top spot and was named the most powerful and influential person in England hospitality industry one more time. 

On August 21, 2010, he won an Emmy for Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution at the 62nd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. 

In 2013, he received an Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of General Practitioners for his work in tackling kids obesity by improving the nutritional value of school meals. 

On October 29, 2015, he was listed by the British company Richtopia at number 2 on the list of the 100 most influential British businessmen.