logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2019
28m 50s

Jamie Oliver: A Life Through Food Part I...

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

On the anniversary of TV series 'The Naked Chef', Jamie Oliver talks to Sheila Dillon about two controversial decades dominating food on our TV screens and online, our home cooking, and dining out.

In a two-part programme, Jamie describes being propelled into the limelight as 'The Naked Chef'. The charismatic young line chef given an unexpected TV pilot. His decision not to aim for Michelin stars, but to open a training restaurant for young people who wouldn’t have considered a career in catering.

From writing his best-selling books, mainly into a dictaphone due to his Dyslexia, to his relationship with the UK press, and his successes and failings working with a succession of UK governments to get the UK eating healthier.

Sheila also speaks to Instagram chef Joe Wicks, Netflix chef Samin Nosrat and members of Jamie’s inner team on the influence of the highest grossing British food writer of all time.

This is the second part of two programmes on Jamie Oliver's Life Through Food. Part one was broadcast on Sunday 18th August 2019.

Presented by Sheila Dillon Produced by Clare Salisbury

Up next
Jul 4
English Olive Oil
With the price of olive oil soaring in the shops after drought disrupted production in Spain, Leyla Kazim looks into the English farms planting olive groves in the hope of bottling their own oil. She meets a farmer in Essex who explains that English growing conditions are more su ... Show More
42m 5s
Jun 27
A Food Revolution in Eight (More) Ideas
Dan Saladino meets pioneering thinkers to hear about future food ideas ranging from edible protein sourced from chicken feathers to crops inoculated with fungi capable of tolerating a hotter climate.Produced and presented by Dan Saladino 
41m 22s
Jun 20
Professor Michael Crawford: A Life through Food
In this episode of 'A Life Through Food', Sheila Dillon meets one of the most provocative scientific minds of the last half-century: Professor Michael Crawford. Now in his 90s, Crawford’s pioneering research into the brain and nutrition has reshaped how we understand the essentia ... Show More
42m 43s
Recommended Episodes
May 2019
How did Jamie Oliver change food culture?
Jamie Oliver is one of the UK’s best-known chefs and restaurant owners. He’s had world wide success with his books, TV series, and campaigns, but this week it was announced that his restaurant company had gone into administration with the loss of 1,000 jobs. Since he came onto ou ... Show More
19m 47s
Apr 2024
Food double-acts: TV chefs
What’s the secret behind the on-screen chemistry shared by some TV chef duos? The recent death of Dave Myers, one half of ‘The Hairy Bikers’ with Si King, has prompted this programme celebrating successful food friendships. Dave and Si made food shows and cookbooks that took thei ... Show More
29m 23s
Jan 2023
Chefs who changed course
Working as a chef can be creative and rewarding when people love your food, but it can also be demanding, requiring long and antisocial hours. In this programme we hear about the highs and lows of working in some of the world’s best kitchens, and why it ultimately isn’t right for ... Show More
27m 34s
Apr 2024
Jamie Oliver
In the 2000s, Jamie Oliver made a big splash with his work reforming kids’ meals in the UK and US. Was his work wicked slammin’, or just proper rustic? Support us:Hear bonus episodes on PatreonDonate on PayPalGet Maintenance Phase T-shirts, stickers and moreBuy Aubrey's book ... Show More
1h 2m
Feb 2021
Nigella Lawson: My life in five dishes
The internationally-acclaimed food writer and TV cook Nigella Lawson, tells her life story through five memorable dishes. Often filmed devouring food with a showy relish, she tells Emily Thomas how her mother’s bulimia sparked a life-long determination to enjoy eating.Nigella exp ... Show More
37m 44s
Jan 2018
Gordon Ramsay: My life in five dishes
Chef Gordon Ramsay is world-famous but, he tells us, people no longer want to talk about his food. The celebrity has become known as much for his cookery programmes, his fiery temper and explosive outbursts, as for his culinary skills. This week, the focus is back on the food, as ... Show More
26m 44s
Sep 2021
Ep 119: Jamie Oliver
Usually it’s the guest that’s shocked by ‘poppadoms or bread’. Not this week, as we welcome to the dream restaurant legendary TV chef Jamie Oliver. Jamie Oliver’s new book ‘Together’ is out now. Buy it here.Follow Jamie on Twitter and Instagram @jamieoliver Recorded and edited by ... Show More
1h 24m
Aug 2022
Clare Smyth, chef
Clare Smyth is a highly acclaimed chef and is the first British woman to win the coveted three Michelin stars for her work. She opened her London restaurant, Core, in 2017, and before that she ran Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, which also held three Michelin stars.Clare was born in Co ... Show More
35m 50s
Sep 2023
Gordon Ramsay, crab linguine with chilli & garlic and a Soave
Season 4 kicks off as Nick and Angela welcome Gordon Ramsay to DISH HQ. Gordon Ramsay OBE is arguably the most famous chef in the world. His global restaurant empire has been awarded 17 Michelin stars; he has hosted some of the biggest shows on UK and US TV, including Hell’s Kitc ... Show More
44m 45s
May 2017
I Don't Cook
In the antithesis of a cookery programme, we meet people from around the world who can’t, don’t or won’t cook. Cooking from scratch will bring us health and happiness. Well that’s what we hear from countless cookbooks, magazines, TV shows, celebrity chefs, and even government ini ... Show More
26m 53s