John Oliver (comedian)

John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom. He came to wider attention for his work in the United States on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' as its senior British correspondent from 2006 to 2013. Oliver won three Primetime Emmy Awards for writing for ''The Daily Show'' and was the show's guest host for an eight-week period in 2013. In addition, Oliver co-hosted the satirical comedy podcast ''The Bugle'' (2007–2015) with Andy Zaltzman, with whom Oliver had previously co-hosted the radio series '' Political Animal'', and hosted ''John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show'' on Comedy Central from 2010 to 2013. He has also acted on television, most notably in a recurring role as Professor Ian Duncan on the NBC sitcom ''Community'', and in films, notably voice-over work in ''The Smurfs'' (2011), ''The Smurfs 2'' (2013), and the 2019 remake of ''The Lion King''. He became a US citizen in 2019.

Since 2014, Oliver has been the host of the HBO series '' Last Week Tonight with John Oliver''. He has received widespread critical and popular recognition for his work on the series, whose influence over US culture, legislation, and policymaking has been dubbed the "John Oliver effect". For his work on ''Last Week Tonight'', Oliver has won fourteen Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards and was included in the 2015 ''Time 100'', being described as a "comedic agent of change...powerful because he isn't afraid to tackle important issues thoughtfully, without fear or apology". Oliver's work has been described as journalism or investigative journalism, a description Oliver rejects.

Early life and education

Oliver was born on 23 April 1977 in Erdington, Birmingham, West Midlands, England, to Carole and Jim Oliver. His father was both a school headmaster and social worker, and his mother was a music teacher. His father was from the Wirral and mother from Liverpool, Merseyside. His uncle was the composer Stephen Oliver. William Boyd Carpenter, Bishop of Ripon and court chaplain to Queen Victoria, was his paternal great-great-grandfather. Oliver learned to play the viola as a child.

Since childhood, he has been a fan of Liverpool FC, noting in interviews that "my mum's family are from Knotty Ash and my dad's family are from the Wirral, so supporting Liverpool was very much not a choice". Oliver was educated in Bedford at the Mark Rutherford School.

Following secondary school, he studied at Christ's College, Cambridge. While a student there in the mid-to-late 1990s, Oliver was a member of the Cambridge Footlights, the university theatrical club run by students of Cambridge University. Oliver's contemporaries included David Mitchell and Richard Ayoade. In 1997, he became the club's vice president. In 1998, Oliver graduated from Cambridge with a degree in English.

Career

Journalism and writing

In an appearance on '' Late Night with Seth Meyers'', Oliver revealed one of his first paying jobs was writing for the British morning show ''The Big Breakfast''.

Stand-up

Oliver first appeared at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2001 as part of ''The Comedy Zone'', a late-night showcase of newer acts, where he played the character of an "oleaginous journalist". Oliver frequently worked with other members of the Chocolate Milk Gang, a group of comedians who often collaborated and performed with one another, including Daniel Kitson, Russell Howard, David O'Doherty, and Alun Cochrane. He performed his debut solo show at the 2002 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and returned in 2003. In 2004 and 2005, he collaborated with Andy Zaltzman on a double act and co-hosting '' Political Animal'', with various acts performing political material.

After moving from the UK to New York City for ''The Daily Show'', Oliver began performing stand-up in small clubs around the city and later headlined shows in larger venues. Oliver's first stand-up special, titled ''John Oliver: Terrifying Times'', debuted on Comedy Central in 2008 and was later released on DVD. Since 2010, Oliver has hosted four seasons of ''John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show''. In 2013, he went to Afghanistan on a USO tour to perform stand-up for the troops there.

According to Edward Helmore in ''The Guardian'', "His style leans toward the kind that Americans like best from the British – exaggerated, full of odd accents and mannerisms, in the vein of Monty Python." Oliver has used his British culture as a primary subject of his jokes. Oliver describes his own accent as a "mongrel" of Brummie, Scouse, and Bedford influences.

Oliver continues to perform stand-up.

''Mock the Week''

Prior to joining ''The Daily Show'', Oliver was making appearances on British television as a panellist on the satirical news quiz ''Mock the Week''. He was a frequent guest on the first two series in 2005 and 2006, appearing in seven out of eleven episodes.

''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''

Oliver joined ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' as its Senior British Correspondent in July 2006. He says he was interviewed for the show on the recommendation of comedian Ricky Gervais, who had never met Oliver, but was familiar with his work. Two weeks after the interview, he got the job, flying from London to New York on a Sunday and unexpectedly appearing on camera the next day. Oliver received Emmy Awards for outstanding writing in 2009, 2011, and 2012.

During the summer of 2013, Oliver guest-hosted ''The Daily Show'' for eight weeks while Stewart directed his film '' Rosewater''. Oliver's performance received positive reviews, with some critics suggesting that he should eventually succeed Stewart as the host, or receive his own show. CBS discussed the possibility of Oliver replacing Craig Ferguson on '' The Late Late Show''. Three months after his role as the interim ''Daily Show'' host ended, HBO announced it was giving Oliver his own late-night show.

''The Bugle''

From October 2007 to May 2015, Oliver co-hosted ''The Bugle'', a weekly satirical comedy podcast, with Andy Zaltzman. Originally produced by ''The Times'', it became an independent project in 2012. Its 200th episode aired on 13 July 2012. The show reached a download count of 500,000 a month.

''John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show''

In 2009, Comedy Central announced that it would be ordering six episodes of the Oliver-hosted ''John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show'', a stand-up series on Comedy Central that featured sets from himself and other stand-up comedians, including Janeane Garofalo, Brian Posehn, Paul F. Tompkins and Marc Maron. Oliver executive-produced the show along with Avalon Television's Richard Allen-Turner, David Martin, James Taylor and Jon Thoday. Each episode featured four comics. From 2010 to 2013, four seasons of the show were produced, the final season lasting eight episodes.

''Last Week Tonight''

Oliver began hosting '' Last Week Tonight with John Oliver'', a late-night talk show that takes a satirical look at politics and current events, on 27 April 2014. His initial two-year contract with HBO was extended through 2017 in February 2015, and through 2020 in September 2017. Oliver says he has full creative freedom, including free rein to criticise corporations, given HBO's ad-free subscription model. His work on the show led to Oliver being named on the list of ''Time'' magazine's "100 Most Influential People" in 2015.

In 2018, ''Last Week Tonight'' was honoured with a Peabody Award in the "Entertainment" category for "bringing satire and journalism even closer together", at the 77th Annual Peabody Awards.

On 14 September 2020, HBO renewed Last Week Tonight for three years, through 2023.

Television acting

As a boy, Oliver played Felix Pardiggle, a minor role in the BBC
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