Joanne Lesley Malone CBE (born 5 November 1963) is a British perfumer and founder of the companies Jo Malone London and Jo Loves. Malone founded Jo Malone London in 1990 and later sold the company in 1999 to its current parent company Estee Lauder Companies. In 2011, Malone founded Jo Loves.

Biography

Malone was born on 5 November 1963, and grew up in a

council house A council house, corporation house or council flat is a form of British Public housing in the United Kingdom, public housing built by Local government in the United Kingdom, local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing ...

Bexleyheath Bexleyheath is a town in southeast London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley. It had a population of approximately 15,600 in 2021 and is southeast of Charing Cross. It is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in London ...

, South East London. She had severe

dyslexia Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...

, and left school aged 13 to care for her mother, who had a stroke. In 1999, Malone sold Jo Malone London to Estée Lauder Companies for "undisclosed millions". In 2011, she started a new fragrance company, Jo Loves. In 2008, Malone received an MBE, then in 2018 a CBE. In 2015, she was a castaway on BBC Radio 4'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 audio recordin ...

''. Malone is married to former surveyor Gary Willcox, and they have a son together. In 2003, Malone was diagnosed with an aggressive form of

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

, and after a year of treatment her cancer was in remission.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malone, Jo 1963 births Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British retail company founders People from Bexleyheath Place of birth missing (living people) People with dyslexia Perfumers British people with disabilities