John Oliver - Biography

Last Modified: Jan 9, 2023

John Oliver
Profession: Comedian, Writer, Producer, Political Commentator, Actor, TV Host
Best Known For: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (TV show)
Salary: $8 million
Net Worth: $35 million

Personal Details

Born on : April 23, 1977 (age 46)
Birth Name /
Full Name:
John William Oliver
Birth Place: Erdington, Birmingham, England
Horoscope: Taurus
Father's Name: Jim Oliver
Mother's Name: Carole Oliver
Siblings: 1

younger sister

High School: Mark Rutherford School
University: Christ's College, Cambridge
Ethnicity: Multi-ethnic (English, Irish)
Nationality: British, American

Relationships

Sexual Orientation: Straight
Marital Status: Married
Married Date: October 1, 2011
Wife's Name: Kate Norley
Children: 2

Hudson Oliver (son)
second son (born 2018)

Body Measurements

Height: 1.83 meter (6 feet 0 inch)
Weight: 80 kg (176.37 lb)
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Dark Brown
Shoe Size: N/A
Bicep Size: N/A
Chest Size: N/A
Waist Size: N/A

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Who is John Oliver?

John Oliver has come a long way from becoming a standup comedian to a Television host. Here are the facts to know more about the world's favorite comedian.

John Oliver – Age, Parents, Siblings

John Oliver was born on 23 April 1977 in Erdington, Birmingham, England to mother Carole Oliver, a music teacher, and father Jim Oliver, a school headmaster and social worker. 

His birth name is John William Oliver. He is not the only child of his parents and has a sibling, a sister, who now lives in Australia.

John Oliver (Image: Twitter)

Oliver has several famous names as family members. Stephen Oliver, the composer, was his uncle and Bishop of Ripon and court chaplain to Queen Victoria, William Boyd Carpenter was his paternal great-great-grandfather.

Education, Ethnicity

Oliver was educated at the Mark Rutherford School, a secondary school located in Bedford. Later after graduation, he joined Christ's College, Cambridge from which he graduated in 1998 with a degree in English.

John Oliver is of mixed ethnicity- English, and Irish.

John Oliver – Marriage, Wife, Children, Divorce

Oliver first met Kate Norley, an Iraq War veteran who had served as a United States Army medic at the 2008 Republican National Convention. He was there working for The Daily Show while Norley was campaigning with Vets for Freedom.

Source: Daily Mail (John Oliver with wife Kate Norley)

After about 4 years of dating, the couple married in an intimate ceremony in October 2011. They have two sons together. Their older son, Hudson was born in 2015 and his younger son, whose name is not publicized, was born in mid-2018.

As of 2020 he and his wife are in a blissful marriage without rumors of extra-marital affairs and divorce.

Related: Jane Garvey - hosts radio program Woman's Hour 

John Oliver – Career

Early Career

John started out as a stand-up comedian. His first recognized appearance was in 2001 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He had appeared as part of The Comedy Zone. 

Back when John Oliver was in Britain, John was working as a panelist on the quiz Mock the Week.

Over the years he gradually began to appear in several shows. In 2006, John Oliver was interviewed to work on The Daily Show, for which he moved from London to New York. British comedian Ricky Gervais who had never personally met John but was familiar with his work recommended The Daily Show to interview John. 

Stand-up comedy, TV shows

Following the interview, he landed the job as the show's senior British correspondent and a Television appearance the very next day.

Next year in 2007, he worked again with Zaltzman and began a weekly podcast The Bugle. As his podcast became famous, he was offered his own stand-up show, John Oliver: Terrifying Times by Comedy Central in 2008.

He is currently the host of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and has been hosting the show since April 2014.

Source: thatsmye (John Oliver)

Co-stars

He also has landed roles in movies such as The Love GuruThe SmurfsThe Smurfs 2, The Smurfs: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow.

In Wonder Park, Oliver starred alongside actors Neil Patrick Harris, Demi Lovato, Frank Welker, Jonathan Winters, and Hank Azaria

John Oliver – Awards, Nominations

He has been awarded numerous awards for his works (2008-2018) including thirteen Primetime Emmy Awards!

Related: Alex Trebek - legendary Jeopardy host

John Oliver – Philanthropy, Nationality

John Oliver’s philanthropy includes one in which he forgave over $15,000,000 of medical debt which was owned by over 9,000 civilians. He had bought the $60,000 debt and forgave it on the show on 4th June 2016.

Oliver has dual citizenship. Back when he first came to America in 2006, he was traveling on a visitors' visa.

Now when he was asked if he has taken the Greed card during an interview, he had said that he had "finally got approved for [his] green card" and comically added that he can "get arrested filming bits for The Daily Show".

Related: Conan O'Brien- has been hosting Late Night with Conan O'Brien since January 1990

John Oliver – Net Worth, Salary

His net worth has been estimated at around $35 million while he has been paid $8 million per annum.

John Oliver – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook

On social media handles such as Twitter, and Facebook, John Oliver is active with millions of followers but is absent from Instagram.

List of TV host

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Tags : comedian writer producer political commentator actor television host The Daily Show Last week tonight

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