John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is an English comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, media critic, and television host. He is the host of HBO's Peabody Award-winning late-night talk show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and is the recipient of five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Writers Guild Awards. Oliver became widely known in the United States for his work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he became the third person to host the show. He co-hosted the satirical comedy podcast The Bugle and hosted John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show on Comedy Central. Oliver has worked extensively with Andy Zaltzman; their body of work includes hundreds of hours of satirical podcasts and radio broadcasts, including series such as Political Animal, The Department, and The Bugle.Oliver was born in Erdington, West Midlands, and educated in Bedford at the Mark Rutherford School. He is the son of Carole, a music teacher, and Jim Oliver, a school headmaster and social worker, both originally from Liverpool, Merseyside. He has been a fan of Liverpool FC since childhood, stating that "my mum's family are from Knotty Ash and my dad's family are from the Wirral, so supporting Liverpool was very much not a choice". His uncle was composer Stephen Oliver, and his paternal great-great-grandfather was William Boyd Carpenter, Bishop of Ripon and court chaplain to Queen Victoria. In the mid-to-late 1990s, Oliver was a member of the Cambridge Footlights, the comedy troupe run by students of Cambridge University, with contemporaries including David Mitchell and Richard Ayoade. In 1997, he became the troupe's vice president. In 1998, he graduated from Christ's College, Cambridge, where he studied English.
Oliver first appeared at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2001 as part of The Comedy Zone, a late-night showcase of newer acts, where he played the character of an "oleaginous journalist." He performed his debut solo show in 2002 and returned in 2003. In 2004 and 2005, he collaborated with Andy Zaltzman on a double act and co-hosting Political Animal, with various acts performing political material. After moving to New York City for The Daily Show, Oliver began performing stand-up in small clubs around the city and later headlined shows in larger venues. Oliver's first stand-up special, titled John Oliver: Terrifying Times, debuted on Comedy Central in 2008 and was later released on DVD. Since 2010, Oliver has hosted four seasons of John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show. According to Edward Helmore in The Guardian: "His style leans toward the kind that Americans like best from the British – exaggerated, full of odd accents and mannerisms, in the vein of Monty Python." Oliver has used his British culture as a primary subject of his jokes. Oliver describes his own accent as a "mongrel" of Brummie, Scouse and Bedford influences.
