Growing up in Essex, where his parents run their own highly respected pub/restaurant in Clavering, Jamie Oliver was frequently found helping in the kitchen. At 16, Jamie left school to complete his training at Westminster Catering College. After spending time working in France and at Antonio Carluccio’s Neal Street Restaurant in London, Jamie joined the acclaimed River Café, where he worked for three and a half years alongside Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers.

In 1997, Jamie was featured in a television documentary about the River Café. Jamie was then offered his own television show, and The Naked Chef was born. The concept was to strip food down to its bare essentials, and Jamie’s hands-on style and general laid-back outlook was like a breath of fresh air, inspiring everyone to cook. The first U.S. show aired in 1999. The Naked Chef book accompanied the television series and became an instant best-seller. A second and third television series was filmed, along with the second and third tie-in books, all published by Hyperion in the United States: The Return of the Naked Chef and Happy Days with the Naked Chef.