Olly is a uniquely enthusiastic British TV presenter, wine expert, foodie and writer.
Olly appears regularly as a wine expert on BBC1′s Saturday Kitchen. He is presenter of The Secret Supper Club for Channel 4 (2011) and Iron Chef UK (C4) and also presents Uncorking the South, a 13-part documentary series about Chilean wine for Canal 13 broadcast throughout South America; Olly is officially big in Chile.
Other TV credits include The Hairy Dieters (BBC1 2012), Songs of Praise Special: Once a Chorister (BBC1 2012), ‘Day Twipper‘ a regular feature on Fern (Channel 4) and appearances on Harry Hill’s TV Burp (ITV1), The Sarah Millican Show (BBC2), This Morning (ITV1 2012), The Alan Titchmarsh Show (ITV1 2012) The Wright Stuff (Channel 5), BBC Breakfast (BBC1) and internationally on Taste and Great Food Live. He also appears on the radio across the country and with his own shows on BBC Radio 4.
Olly is Wine Editor of The Mail on Sunday’s Live Magazine with his weekly wine column reaching 5.3 million readers each week. He also writes for numerous other publications.
His second book Wine: Both Barrels was published in November 2012 and is an entertaining and informative guide to wine giving readers everything they need to know, from what to drink and how to spot a bargain to food matching and tips galore.
His first book ‘Eat & Drink: Good Food That’s Great to Drink With‘ was published by Headline in May 2010. Illustrated by his own fair hand, it is a treasure trove of recipes, wine tips and tales of adventure from his travels across the high seas of flavour.
Olly is Celebrity Drinks Ambassador for Ideal Home Show Christmas and hosts a multitude of live events around the UK including the BBC Good Food Show, Tapas Fantasticas, and previously Masterchef Live, Love Cooking, Taste of London and the F-Word Live for Channel 4. He is one third of Three Wine Men, with Oz Clarke and Tim Atkin, bringing wine tasting to the masses.
He has a hugely successful, award winning wine bar and eatery The Glass House on board the luxury cruise liner Azura with P&O Cruises. He has selected the wine list for Marco Pierre White’s restaurant Ocean Grill aboard P&O’s latest ship Adonia and blends the Porta Palo range of wines across the entire fleet of P&O ships. He appears regularly on Azura hosting wine tasting events. The Glass House is to be rolled out to P&O’s ship Ventura in 2013.
Olly has launched his very own wine glass made by world class manufacturers Zalto. A unique design, The Glass is dishwasher friendly and designed to be used for red and white wine. It is a thing of beauty – both practical and elegant for everyday use at home. To complement The Glass, Olly launched The Bottle in 2012.
Olly’s must-have App for iPhone was featured in the Sunday Times World’s Best App list 2011 and 2012 – designed to be used by anyone who likes wine, his app aims to give everyone the knowledge and confidence to try something new. It features a Wine Guide, Wines of the Week, food matching tips, videos and much more.
Olly is honoured to have received the following awards:
United Kingdom Vineyards Association Communicator of the Year 2012
Roederer Awards Finalist for International Columnist of the Year 2012
Wines of Portugal Journalism Award 2012
International Wine & Spirits Communicator of the Year Award 2009
Drinks Business Young Achiever of the Year Award 2009
Before romping into the world of fine food and wine, Olly was a scriptwriter for TV and film, including shows such as Pingu and Charlie & Lola, and even spent a joyful day gag-writing for Wallace & Gromit’s Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
However, Olly’s favourite writing assignment was The Fly Who Loved Me which united him with his hero and chum Sir Roger Moore. Check out His Rogesty’s work for UNICEF – Roger rules!
Work aside, Olly is a massive fan of Ghostbusters and can name all four of them, adores cricket, rugby, tennis and loves strolling in the countryside with his dog, Barney.
More information on all of the above can be found through this website: http://www.ollysmith.com/