Olly Smith

Olly Smith (born 18 September 1974) is a British TV presenter, wine expert, columnist and author. In 2015 he was listed in Debrett's 500, recognising people of influence and achievement in British society.^[1]

His brother is the British comedian Will Smith.^[2] He was born in Jersey, and currently resides in Sussex with his family.^[3]

Writing

Olly is currently wine editor of The Mail on Sunday’s Event Magazine and writes a weekly wine column. He has formerly written columns for Wine & Spirit, Men's Health, and Waitrose and Sainsbury's supermarket magazines, and features for such publications as The Independent on Sunday, London Lite, and Country Life.

Smith has written three books, Eat & Drink: Good Food That’s Great to Drink With^[4] in 2010, Wine: Both Barrels^[5] in 2012, and Behind Enemy Wines^[6] in 2013.

Olly previously wrote for film and TV including Pingu, Wallace and Gromit and Charlie and Lola.^[7]

Television

Smith regularly appears as a wine expert on BBC1′s Saturday Kitchen^[8] and is a frequent guest on ITV's This Morning. In September 2014 Smith presented a four part series "Last Taste of Summer" which aired on ITV1's This Morning.^[9]

Smith's latest series, Jeni & Olly's West Coast Wine Adventures, has been shown Food Network and Travel Channel since April 2014. Unsubstantiated comments suggest he is working on a secret new programme "Drinking with Animals" where he attempts to find natural pairings of wild animals and wine varietals, blends or ecologically relevant cocktails.

Smith was host of the short-lived Iron Chef UK during 2010.

In 2011, Smith presented a ten part series for Channel 4 entitled The Secret Supper Club.^[10] Outside of the UK, he presented a documentary series about Chilean wine, Uncorking the South, for Canal 13.

Smith also presents films for Waitrose TV – Olly Smith’s American Whiskey Trail (2013) and Christmas Drinks with Phillip Schofield (2013).

He is also a voice-over artist, narrating Chic Eats for The Discovery Channel, performing voices for ITV's award-winning show The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers as well as writing and presenting Dude, Where's My Title? for Radio 4. He also performed alongside Roger Moore in The Fly Who Loved Me Christmas cartoon for UNICEF.

Radio

Olly presents Radio 2's Good Morning Sunday, sitting in for Clare Balding.^[11]

The Glass House, P&O Cruises

Smith’s wine bar and eatery The Glass House on board P&O Cruises luxury cruise ship Azura won Best Bar at Sea at the Cruise Critic Awards 2011 and 2012. Due to its success, further Glass House bars have launched on Ventura and Aurora, with a fourth opening in March 2015 on RMS Britannia, Britain’s largest cruise ship. He has selected the wine list for Marco Pierre White’s restaurant Ocean Grill aboard Adonia and blends the Porta Palo range of wines across the entire fleet of P&O ships. Olly appears regularly on Azura and Ventura hosting wine tastings.^[12]

Events

Olly is the Celebrity Drinks Ambassador for The Ideal Home Show,^[13] one third of Three Wine Men ^[14] and has appeared across the country hosting numerous live events including Gordon Ramsay’s Taste of Christmas, the BBC Good Food Show and the Drinks Retailing Awards. Olly is also the wine expert for Chris Evans’ Radio 2 Dine & Disco ^[15] supporting Children In Need and also appears at CarFest.^[16]

Awards

In 2011, Olly was named by Off License News among the top 75 most influential people in the UK wine trade.^[17]

Recent awards:

United Kingdom Vineyards Association Communicator of the Year 2012^[18]
Roederer Awards Finalist for International Columnist of the Year 2012^[19]
Wines of Portugal Journalism Award 2012^[20]
International Wine & Spirits Communicator of the Year Award 2009 ^[21]
Drinks Business Young Achiever of the Year Award 2009 ^[22]