John Oliver
"You don't need people's opinion on a fact."
Biography
Comedian and writer John William Oliver was born on April 23, 1977, in Erdington, England, to two teachers. As a young boy, Oliver dreamed of one day becoming a professional football player.
Training/ Education
John Oliver attended Christ's College at the University of Cambridge. He continued to write and perform stand-up throughout England after college, until he received a call to audition for The Daily Show in 2006. He was hired as The Daily Show's "senior British correspondent." In 2008, John Oliver: Terrible Times debuted on Comedy Central. The following year, Oliver debuted his own show called Last Week Tonight on HBO.
The Breakthrough
After college, John Oliver continued to write and perform stand-up throughout England. In 2001, he performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as part of The Comedy Zone. After spending some time on other small jobs, his stand-up began to gain some notice. John Oliver looked up to Jon Stewart who started his career eventually. He also looked up to Armando Iannucci. "Armando Iannucci is one of my heroes. As i was growing up, he was probably the most influential comic voice that I had."
WGA Award for best comedy/variety
He won this award in 2014/15 for being the funniest comedian on television.
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing
He won this award two years in a row, once in 2011, and the following year.
Peabody Awards
He won the Peabody Award in 2014 for "Encouraging people to come together"
Interesting Facts
-His wife was an Army veteran who served as a medic in the Iraq war.
-He originally wanted to be a football player, not a comedian.
-He has English and Irish Ancestry
-On his father's side, John is the great-great grandson of William Floyd Carpenter who was a court chaplain to Queen Victoria.
John Oliver - Pope Francis in America