David Adetayo Olusoga (born January 1970) is a British historian, writer, broadcaster, presenter and film-maker. He is Professor of Public History at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The university owns and operates majo ...

. He has presented historical documentaries on the BBC and contributed to ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

''.

Early life and education

David Olusoga was born in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

, Nigeria, to a Nigerian father and British mother.David Olusoga's Biography
at biogs.com. At five years old, Olusoga migrated to the UK with his mother and grew up in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcas ...

. He was one of a very few non-white people living on a

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

. By the time he was 14, the National Front had allegedly attacked his house on more than one occasion, requiring police protection for him and his family. They were allegedly eventually forced to leave as a result of the racism. He later attended the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

to study the history of slavery, and in 1994, graduated with a BA (Hons) History degree, followed by a postgraduate course in broadcast journalism at

Leeds Trinity University Leeds Trinity University is a public university in Horsforth, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Originally established to provide qualified teachers to Catholic schools, it gradually expanded and now offers foundation, undergraduate, and postg ...

Career and recognition

Olusoga began his television career as a researcher on the 1999 BBC series ''Western Front''. He became a producer of history programmes after university, working from 2005 on programmes such as ''Namibia: Genocide and the Second Reich'', ''The Lost Pictures of Eugene Smith'' and ''Abraham Lincoln: Saint or Sinner?''. Subsequently he became a

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a " television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...

, beginning in 2014 with ''The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire'', about the Indian, African and Asian troops who fought in the First World War, followed by other documentaries and appearances on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

television's ''

''. In 2015 it was announced that he would co-present ''Civilisations'', a sequel to

Kenneth Clark Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster. After running two important art galleries in the 1930s and 1940s, he came to wider public notice on television ...

's 1969 television documentary series ''Civilisation'', alongside the historians Mary Beard and

Simon Schama Sir Simon Michael Schama (; born 13 February 1945) is an English historian specialising in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He fi ...

. His most recent TV series include '' Black and British: A Forgotten History'', ''The World's War'', ''

A House Through Time ''A House Through Time'' is a documentary television series made by Twenty Twenty Television for BBC Two. The first series aired in 2018, a second in 2019, a third in 2020, and a fourth in 2021, with each examining the history of a single resi ...

'' and the BAFTA award-winning ''Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners''. Olusoga has written stand-alone history books as well as those accompanying his television series. He is the author of the 2016 book ''Black and British: A Forgotten History'', which was awarded both the Longman–History Today Trustees Award 2017 and the PEN

Hessell-Tiltman Prize The Hessell-Tiltman History Prize is awarded to the best work of non-fiction of historical content covering a period up to and including World War II, and published in the year of the award. The books are to be of high literary merit, but not pr ...

2017. His other books include ''The World’s War'', which won First World War Book of the Year in 2015, ''The Kaiser’s Holocaust: Germany’s Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism'' (2011) which he co-authored with Casper Erichsen, and ''Civilisations'' (2018). He contributed to the ''Oxford Companion to Black British History'', and has written for ''

'', ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'' and ''

BBC History ''BBC History Magazine'' is a British publication devoted to both British and world history and aimed at all levels of knowledge and interest. The publication releases thirteen editions a year, one per month and a Christmas special edition, an ...

'' magazine; since June 2018 he has been a member of the board of the

Scott Trust Scott Trust Limited is the British company that owns Guardian Media Group and thus ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer'' as well as various other media businesses in the UK. In 2008, it replaced the Scott Trust, which had owned ''The Guardian'' s ...

, which publishes ''The Guardian''. Olusoga was included in the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

editions of the ''

Powerlist The ''Powerlist'' is a list of the 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom. The list is updated annually and has been published in book format by Powerful Media since 2007. The ''Powerlist'' is ...

'', a ranking of the 100 most influential Black Britons, and in the

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

edition he made the Top 10 most influential, ranking eighth. He was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) in the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to history and to community integration. He received his medal from the Queen in January 2019. On appointing him as a professor in 2019, the University of Manchester described him as an expert on military history, empire, race and slavery, and "one of the UK's foremost historians". Olusoga gave his inaugural professorial lecture on "Identity, Britishness and the ''Windrush''" at the University of Manchester in May 2019. In response to the global

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...

movement with

protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

after the

murder of George Floyd On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's ...

, Olusoga's ''Black and British: A Forgotten History'' was re-broadcast. along with ''Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners'', also fronted by him. On 13 November 2020, the BBC announced that it had commissioned ''Barack Obama Talks To David Olusoga'', a special programme in which

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

discusses the first volume of his presidential memoirs, ''A Promised Land''.David Olusoga's Biography
at biogs.com. The programme aired on 19 January 2021. In January 2021 Olusoga appeared on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

's ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...

''. In December 2021, it was announced that Olusoga had been awarded the President's Medal, by the British Academy. Olusoga is the 39th person to receive the medal, which has been awarded since 2010, and recognises services to the humanities and social sciences. Previous recipients include

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, ...

Jimmy Wales Jimmy Donal Wales (born August 7, 1966), also known on Wikipedia by the pseudonym Jimbo, is an American-British Internet entrepreneur, webmaster, and former financial trader. He is a co-founder of the online non-profit encyclopedia Wikipe ...

and

Hilary Mantel Dame Hilary Mary Mantel ( ; born Thompson; 6 July 1952 – 22 September 2022) was a British writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. Her first published novel, '' Every Day Is Mother's Day'', was relea ...

Awards and honours

*2021: President's Medal, British Academy, for services to humanities and social sciences *2019: Appointed Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in the

for services to history and to community integration *2019:

Honorary Degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad h ...

of Doctor of Laws,

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

*2018: Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters,

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

*2017: Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters,

*2017: PEN

for ''Black and British'' *2017: Longman–History Today Trustees Award for ''Black and British'' *2016: Specialist Factual BAFTA, BAFTA TV Awards for ''Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners'' *2015:

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Histori ...

Public History Prize for Broadcasting for ''Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners'' (BBC History) *2015: World War One Book of the Year at the

Paddy Power Paddy Power is an Irish gambling company founded in 1988. Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. The business is split into two divisions, UK Ireland (UKI) and International. UKI operations ...

Political Book Awards for ''The World's War''

Filmography

* ''The World's War: Forgotten Soldiers of Empire'' (2014) * ''Fighting for King and Empire: Britain's Caribbean Heroes'' (2015) * ''

'' (various episodes) * ''Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners'' (2015) * '' Black and British: A Forgotten History'' (2016) * ''

Timewatch ''Timewatch'' is a long-running British television series showing documentaries on historical subjects, spanning all human history. It was first broadcast on 29 September 1982 and is produced by the BBC. The ''Timewatch'' brandname is used as a ...

'': "British Empire – Heroes and Villains" and "Dictators and Despots" (both 2017) * ''

Civilisations A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system). Civ ...

'' (two of nine episodes, "First Contact" and "The Cult of Progress") (2018) * ''

'' (2018–present) * ''The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files'' (2019) * ''Statue Wars: One Summer in Bristol'' (2021) * ''Our NHS: A Hidden History'' (2021)

Books

*''The Kaiser's Holocaust: Germany's Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism'' (Faber and Faber, 2011); (with Casper W. Erichsen) *''The World's War'' (Head of Zeus, 2015); *''Black and British: A Forgotten History'' (Macmillan, 2016); *''Civilisations: First Contact/The Cult of Progress'' (

Profile Books Profile Books is a British independent book publishing firm founded in 1996. It publishes non-fiction subjects including history, biography, memoir, politics, current affairs, travel and popular science. Profile Books is distributed in the UK ...

, 2018); *''The Black History Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained'' ( DK, 2021);

References

External links

* Akbar, Arifa
"David Olusoga: ‘There’s a dark side to British history, and we saw a flash of it this summer’"
(interview), ''

'', 4 November 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2021. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Olusoga, David 1970 births Living people 21st-century British historians Academics of the University of Manchester Alumni of Leeds Trinity University Alumni of the University of Liverpool Black British academics Black British history Black British television personalities Black British writers British broadcasters British military historians British television presenters Historians of World War I Historians of World War II Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Nigerian people of British descent Officers of the Order of the British Empire People associated with the University of Leeds People associated with the University of Leicester People from Gateshead Writers from Tyne and Wear Television personalities from Lagos Writers from Lagos Yoruba academics Yoruba historians Yoruba television personalities Yoruba writers 21st-century British male writers