Frankly Speaking With Jamie Oliver

He was just an Essex kid who loved cooking and went on to build a food empire. Here, the father-of-live talks to Jackie Frank about life love getting men into the kitchen.

- Jackie Frank

JACKIE: Let’s go back to the beginning. Was there anything in your childhood that suggested you’d be this runaway success?

JAMIE: No. Definitely not. I did terribly at school. I grew up in a pub in the food industry. I knew I wanted to cook, but, no, not at all. I mean, my absolute plan was fairly worked out: I’d take over a pub, crack on, maybe find a wife, rattle out a few kids, done.

JF: Well, you’ve rattled out a few kids – five.

JO: Yeah, geez. What a roller-coaster!

JF: What kind of kid were you?

JO: Curious, a bit hyper, fairly decent, friends with a lot of people. I had a lot of fun, was a little bit mischievous. But I worked a lot as a kid. I started working [in the kitchen of his parents’ pub] when I was eight, for pocket money, on weekends and summer holidays. In a family business you’re kept really busy. Dad was tough, quite strict. He taught me that people die in bed, so get up! He used to wake me up with a hose.

JF: Really?

JO: Yeah. Mum and Dad were great. They used to work seven days a week, but they were always there. That’s one of the joys of living in a family business: they’re always there, but you’re quite independent. Even as a 10-year-old I’d, like, go out at nine and come back at six at night.

JF: You seem to have had a dream run in your career. Early on as a pastry chef at Antonio Carluccio’s London restaurant, then sous-chef at The River Café, where you were spotted by a BBC talent scout.

JO: I was in the background of a Christmas program, Christmas at The River Café. When they cut the show, I ended up in a lot of it. Then a few people spotted it and suggested I have my own show, which was really not the plan.