1. John Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom and came to wider attention for his work in the United States as the senior British correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 2006 to 2013.
60 Facts About John Oliver
1. 2.
John Oliver co-hosted the comedy podcast The Bugle with Andy Zaltzman, with whom Oliver had previously worked on the radio series Political Animal and The Department.
3.
John Oliver's acting roles include Ian Duncan on the NBC sitcom Community and voice work in the animated films The Smurfs, The Smurfs 2, and The Lion King remake.
4.
John Oliver's work has been described as journalism or investigative journalism, labels that he rejects.
5.
John William Oliver was born in the Erdington suburb of Birmingham on 23 April 1977, the son of music teacher Carole and school headmaster and social worker Jim Oliver.
6.
John Oliver's mother was from Liverpool, while his father came from the Wirral.
7.
John Oliver has a younger sister who currently lives in Australia.
Related searches
Jon Stewart Andy Zaltzman Seth Meyers David O'Doherty Russell Howard Alun Cochrane Daniel Kitson Robin Ince Anita Rani Jon Holmes Chris Addison Ricky Gervais Demetri Martin Craig Ferguson Terry Jones Simon Pegg Stephen Colbert Jimmy Fallon Jimmy Kimmel Armando Iannucci David Letterman Richard Pryor Peter Cook Donald Trump Joe Biden Kamala Harris Marlon Bundo 8.
John Oliver grew up in Bedford, where he attended the Mark Rutherford School and learned to play the viola.
9.
John Oliver was raised Anglican, but later told interviewer Terry Gross that he lapsed at the age of 12 after the death of a school friend and an uncle, followed by a feeling of receiving no useful answers from the church.
10.
In 1985, John Oliver made his first on-screen appearance playing Felix Pardiggle, a minor role in the BBC drama Bleak House.
11.
In 2001, John Oliver appeared as a bank manager in series two of People Like Us.
12.
John Oliver said in a later Seth Meyers appearance that one of his first paying jobs was writing for the British morning show The Big Breakfast.
13.
John Oliver frequently worked with other members of the comedian group the Chocolate Milk Gang, including Daniel Kitson, Russell Howard, David O'Doherty, and Alun Cochrane.
14.
From 2002 to 2003, John Oliver worked on the BBC Three comedy series The State We're In, along with Anita Rani, Jon Holmes, and Robin Ince.
15.
In 2003, John Oliver manned the "results desk" on an election night episode of Armando Iannucci's satirical show Gash on Channel 4.
16.
In 2004, John Oliver wrote and performed in the satirical radio programme The Department on BBC Radio 4 with Andy Zaltzman and Chris Addison.
17.
In July 2006, John Oliver joined The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as its Senior British Correspondent.
18.
John Oliver says he was interviewed for the show on the recommendation of comedian Ricky Gervais, who had never met Oliver, but was familiar with his work.
19.
John Oliver received Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for The Daily Show in 2009,2011, and 2012.
20.
In 2007, John Oliver wrote and presented a BBC America campaign to have viewers use closed captions.
21.
From October 2007 to May 2015, John Oliver co-hosted The Bugle, a weekly comedy podcast, with Andy Zaltzman.
22.
John Oliver had a recurring role on the NBC sitcom Community as the professor of psychology Dr Ian Duncan.
23.
John Oliver later voiced Vanity Smurf in The Smurfs film and its sequel.
24.
John Oliver performed several roles in the 2009 Comedy Central series Important Things with Demetri Martin.
25.
In 2009, John Oliver made a cameo appearance in the music video for The Fiery Furnaces' single "Even in the Rain".
Related searches
Jon Stewart Andy Zaltzman Seth Meyers David O'Doherty Russell Howard Alun Cochrane Daniel Kitson Robin Ince Anita Rani Jon Holmes Chris Addison Ricky Gervais Demetri Martin Craig Ferguson Terry Jones Simon Pegg Stephen Colbert Jimmy Fallon Jimmy Kimmel Armando Iannucci David Letterman Richard Pryor Peter Cook Donald Trump Joe Biden Kamala Harris Marlon Bundo 26.
John Oliver's performance received positive reviews, with some critics suggesting that he should eventually succeed Stewart as the host, or receive his own show.
27.
CBS discussed the possibility of John Oliver replacing Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show.
28.
John Oliver has stated that he has full creative freedom, including free rein to criticise corporations, given HBO's ad-free subscription model.
29.
In 2015, John Oliver was named one of Time 100 influential people of the year for his work on the show.
30.
John Oliver was originally cast in 2010 to star in the Terry Jones film Absolutely Anything as Neil Clarke, but scheduling conflicts due to the debut of Last Week Tonight in 2014 led to the role being recast for Simon Pegg.
31.
In 2019, John Oliver voiced the porcupine Steve in the CGI animated film Wonder Park and hornbill Zazu in the remake of Disney's The Lion King.
32.
From 2018 to 2019, John Oliver worked as an executive producer for Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas.
33.
On 30 August 2023, John Oliver began hosting the comedy podcast Strike Force Five with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers, to support their staff members out of work due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.
34.
John Oliver has said that among his comedic influences are Armando Iannucci, David Letterman, Monty Python, Peter Cook, Richard Pryor, and Jon Stewart.
35.
John Oliver met Kate Norley, an Iraq War veteran who served as a medic in the US Army's 1st Cavalry Division, at the 2008 Republican National Convention; he was reporting for The Daily Show and she was campaigning with Vets for Freedom.
36.
John Oliver occasionally wears a 1st Cavalry Division lapel pin in honour of Norley.
37.
John Oliver was naturalized as a US citizen on 13 December 2019.
38.
John Oliver has said that being a New York Yankees fan would be the "wrong thing to do morally".
39.
John Oliver purchased the debt for $60,000 and forgave it on his show on 4 June 2016.
40.
John Oliver was opposed to Brexit, writing multiple pieces about it and calling it "painful, it's pointless, and most of you didn't even agree to run it; you were just signed up by your dumbest friend".
41.
John Oliver stated that it was "sad" to consider that his children with British citizenship would not experience the benefits of the EU.
42.
John Oliver has been particularly critical of the Conservative Party and of its former leader Boris Johnson's time as Prime Minister.
43.
John Oliver supports abolishing the British monarchy and making Britain a republic, and declined an OBE.
44.
John Oliver favoured Joe Biden for president in the 2020 election and celebrated Biden's victory over Donald Trump.
45.
John Oliver warned that "more than 70 million people voted for [Trump] and everything he said and stands for, and that is something we are going to have to reckon with for the foreseeable future".
Related searches
Jon Stewart Andy Zaltzman Seth Meyers David O'Doherty Russell Howard Alun Cochrane Daniel Kitson Robin Ince Anita Rani Jon Holmes Chris Addison Ricky Gervais Demetri Martin Craig Ferguson Terry Jones Simon Pegg Stephen Colbert Jimmy Fallon Jimmy Kimmel Armando Iannucci David Letterman Richard Pryor Peter Cook Donald Trump Joe Biden Kamala Harris Marlon Bundo 46.
John Oliver has been strongly critical of Trump and the Republican Party, later endorsing Kamala Harris for president in the 2024 election.
47.
Politico argued that John Oliver criticised liberal politicians as much as those on the right.
48.
John Oliver documented problems attributed to Internet service providers and argued that the Federal Communications Commission could resolve these concerns with upcoming changes to Internet regulation.
49.
John Oliver then encouraged viewers to submit public comments through the FCC's website.
50.
John Oliver maintains that he is not a journalist, but reporters have contended that his show is a form of journalism.
51.
The Peabody Awards honoured John Oliver, saying his programme engages in "investigative reports that 'real' news programs would do well to emulate".
52.
One example of John Oliver's investigative work is a segment on the Miss America organization, which bills itself as "the world's largest provider of scholarships for women".
53.
John Oliver said that at the national level, the Miss America Organization and Miss America Foundation together spent only $482,000 in cash scholarships in 2012.
54.
John Oliver founded and legally incorporated a church, Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption, to demonstrate how easy it is to qualify as a church and receive tax-exempt status in the United States.
55.
The next week, John Oliver showed off the large quantity of donations posted to him, which included $70,000 in cash, a large cheque, and other gifts.
56.
In 2018 on Last Week Tonight, John Oliver presented the children's book A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, a parody of Marlon Bundo's A Day in the Life of the Vice President.
57.
John Oliver had previously bought in an auction several film props that had been used by Crowe, including his jockstrap from Cinderella Man, which he sent to one of the last Alaskan Blockbuster Video shops for exhibition.
58.
Crowe then donated the proceeds from the auction towards the establishment of the Chlamydia Ward named after John Oliver, calling it "a cool way" to honour him.
59.
John Oliver won three Primetime Emmy Awards, one WGA Award, and one Grammy Award for his work at The Daily Show.
60.
In 2021, John Oliver received the Great Immigrants Award from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.