As one of the most love him or hate him people in the culinary world, Jamie Oliver divides opinions. Whether you hate him in the UK for taking away your cheeseburgers at lunchtime during school or you find his restaurants to be amazing, it does not matter. One thing that cannot be denied is that Oliver is a wildly successful entrepreneur and chef. Who is he, though? Let’s look at some of the facts.
He isn’t too keen on veganism
One thing to note is that while Oliver is a big name in the healthy eating world, he isn’t quite as keen on veganism as an approach to life. He believes that going vegan can come with some hefty nutritional challenges, and it is quite interesting to see just how up and down he is on the idea of veganism. For someone who is enshrined in the food industry, his views on the topic carry quite a lot of weight.
He has an odd relationship with sugar
As we mentioned above, Oliver went on a UK-wide crusade to change school meals and make them healthier. That’s good, and his celebration of the 2016 UK sugar tax was simply a continuation of that process. However, the fact is that many of his recipes online contain eye-watering sugar content. This includes things like cola-cooked gammon, and party cakes for kids that exceed their maximum recommended daily sugar intake – in one slice.
Many see him as a hypocrite on the matter; one minute Oliver is campaigning against sugar, and the next he is littering his recipes with sugar in obscene amounts.
He never finished a book until his late 30s
As a person with a litany of successful books, you would assume that Oliver is a keen reader and a fan of the medium. However, he admitted he never finished a book until the year 2013 when he finished Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. That seems ridiculous, but it is something that he seemed quite happy about. It seems quite a stretch for an intelligent guy, but who knows?