'I wasn't supposed to be working.' 26 years ago, Jamie Oliver was accidentally discovered by a film crew. (2024)

FAQs

How did Jamie Oliver get discovered? ›

Oliver moved to The River Café, Fulham, as a sous-chef. He was noticed there by the BBC in 1997, after making an unscripted appearance in a documentary about the restaurant, Christmas at the River Cafe. In 1999, his BBC show The Naked Chef debuted, and his cookbook became a bestseller in the United Kingdom.

"We had simply run out of cash," he told the Financial Times of bailing out his restaurant group. "We hadn't expected it. This is just not normal, in any business," he explained.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver campaigned against cheap processed foods like “turkey twizzlers” in the early 2000s. And Margaret Thatcher, the UK's prime minister in the 1970s, was nicknamed the “milk snatcher” when she was education secretary because she stopped free milk for children in schools.

"Rotolo is a Tuscan dish of pasta, greens, cheese, and porcini, all rolled and baked in tomato sauce," Oliver says. "When you cut through, you get a swirl of the pasta, a swirl of the green, bombs of the white cheese. This is what I was cooking during Christmas at the River Café.

And the second name in this European ranking — none other than Jamie Oliver — doesn't hold a single Michelin star, despite being the subject of 4.4 million Google searches last year, compared with 1 million for Alain Ducasse.

Oliver's businesses have been through a rocky period over the past few years, after the restaurant chain Jamie's Italian went bust in 2019, leading to the closure of 22 restaurants, the loss of 1,000 jobs and around £83 million in debt.

Jamie Oliver Kitchen will sit alongside the other brands in the international restaurant portfolio: Jamie's Italian, Jamie Oliver's Pizzeria, Jamie's Deli and Jamie Oliver's Diner. The Jamie Oliver Group currently operates 70 restaurants across 27 markets, collaborating with 20 franchise partners.

Last year, the couple, who have five children together, renewed their vows in a “special” ceremony in the Maldives. In April, Oliver posted photographs from the beach ceremony on his Instagram and wrote: “Morning all, me and Jools Oliver got married again!

In 2010, Ramsay made additional negative comments in which he called Oliver a mere cook instead of a chef (via Daily Mail). Ramsay also reportedly compared their styles of cooking during this public tirade, stating that Oliver had a very different style, which Ramsay insinuated was inferior.

How did Jamie Oliver lose all his weight? ›

The 44-year-old told the Radio Times his “quite quick” body transformation was down to a few simple changes, none of which involved “not eating”. “I pushed meat down, pushed veggie up, got more sleep and more movement,” he explained.

Why were Turkey Twizzlers banned? The notorious lunchtime snacks were barred from school dinners in 2005 after being targeted by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver in his TV show Jamie's School Dinners, which revealed their high fat and sugar content.

Alongside chasing turkey twizzlers out of school dinners, Jamie is famous for his Italian and American inspired dishes, but it's his classic, rustic and simple steak sarnie (from his Meals in 30 Minutes book). This steak sarnie recipe remains one of Jamie Oliver's most famous dishes.

Jamie told the media around the time he invested his own money that he put it down to “rents, rates, the high street declining, food costs, Brexit, increase in the minimum wage. There was a lot going on.” Other reasons cited by former staff include: The restaurants were too big paired with decreased numbers of staff.

Born in Minori on the Amalfi Coast, Gennaro Contaldo is one of the most respected chefs in London and is widely known as the man who taught Jamie Oliver all he knows about Italian cooking.

Born in Minori on the Amalfi Coast, Gennaro Contaldo is one of the most respected chefs in London and is widely known as the man who taught Jamie Oliver all he knows about Italian cooking.

The River Cafe opened its doors to a BBC camera crew to capture the restaurant in the run-up to Christmas. Oliver wasn't meant to appear in the show (he wasn't even supposed to be working that day – he'd turned up to cover a sick colleague's shift), but his easy manner caught producers' interest.

The pub also served as a restaurant business, and it was there Jamie learned the deeds of cooking as a child. By the time he was 11 he was already doing basic meal prep with the rest of the staff. He left school when he was 16. He considered himself to be a “special needs kid” and felt like school had let him down.

Oliver Tree Nickell is an American vocalist, producer, and filmmaker from Santa Cruz, California. He signed to Atlantic Records in 2017, after his song "When I'm Down" went viral. He blurs the lines between meme and music with his strange and hilarious online presence.