15 Facts About David Olusoga

David Olusoga is Professor of Public History at the University of Manchester.

David Olusoga was born in 1970 in Lagos, Nigeria, the second child to a Nigerian father and British mother.

At five years old, David Olusoga migrated to the UK with his mother and grew up in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.

David Olusoga was one of a very few non-white people living on a council estate.

David Olusoga later attended the University of Liverpool to study the history of slavery, and in 1994, graduated with a BA History degree, followed by a postgraduate course in broadcast journalism at Leeds Trinity University.

David Olusoga began his television career as a researcher on the 1999 BBC series Western Front.

David Olusoga has written stand-alone history books, as well as those accompanying his television series.

David Olusoga contributed to the Oxford Companion to Black British History, and has written for The Guardian, The Observer, New Statesman and BBC History magazine; since June 2018 he has been a member of the board of the Scott Trust, which publishes The Guardian.

David Olusoga was included in the 2019 and 2020 editions of the Powerlist, a ranking of the 100 most influential Black Britons, and in the 2021 edition he made the Top 10 most influential, ranking eighth.

David Olusoga was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to history and to community integration.

David Olusoga received his medal from King Charles III in February 2023.

David Olusoga gave his inaugural professorial lecture on "Identity, Britishness and the Windrush" at the University of Manchester in May 2019.

In January 2021, David Olusoga appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.

In December 2021, it was announced that David Olusoga had been awarded the President's Medal by the British Academy.

David Olusoga is the 39th person to receive the medal, which has been awarded since 2010, and recognises services to the humanities and social sciences.