Jamie Oliver

Since his arrival on the TV cookery and publishing scene in the late nineties, Jamie Oliver has wowed generations of food lovers with his enthusiasm and his no-nonsense, tasty recipes. He grew up surrounded by good food: his parents ran the Cricketers pub in Clavering, Essex and, from the age of eight, he started cooking and helping the chefs.

Jamie's apprenticeship to restaurant cooking came under some of the best chefs in London. To begin with there was Antonio Carluccio and Gennaro Contaldo at the Neal Street Restaurant. Then, he moved on to the River Cafe under Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers. The Italian influence on his cooking is strong, with its use of herbs and simple, full-flavoured recipes. It was while he was working at the River Cafe that he was spotted by a television producer and his life changed forever.

The first series that featured Jamie's cooking was The Naked Chef. It was an overnight success, attracting the kind of audience that wouldn't normally watch food programmes. The book that accompanied the series became a bestseller and the young chef, always fully clothed, was catapulted into the limelight. He has published several books since, most of which are listed below, and has enjoyed enormous sales success.

He has also campaigned vigorously, through a variety of media, for the improvement of school dinners in the United Kingdom, and has won many plaudits as a result - his latest book is Jamie's America , which takes him to the heart of America: its people, culture, music and, most importantly, its food. Along the way Jamie gets his hands dirty - meeting hunters, cowboys, fishermen and local producers - as he finds out about the best (and strangest) ingredients on offer.

Enter our fantastic competition to win a trip to New York with Jamie's America!

Fact file

Name: Jamie Oliver

Date of birth: 1975

Place of birth: Clavering, Essex

Current Home: London

Education: Westminster Catering College. Various Kitchens!

Similar Authors: Nigel Slater, Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers, Gennaro Contaldo