John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British-American comedian and actor.
His early career followed the well-worn trail of Oxbridge Footlights, where his contemporaries included David Mitchell and Richard Ayoade. Appearances on BBC radio comedy followed, as well as an evolving stand-up act that led him to TV appearances on shows like Mock the Week.
After relocating to the USA, he was a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 2006 to 2013. During the summer of 2013, as Jon Stewart was directing the film Rosewater, Oliver was selected to be the Guest Host in his absence. Receiving great acclaim as a host, he was soon offered his own show on HBO, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, a late-night political talk show similar to The Daily Show, which premiered in April 2014.
He also had a recurring role as Dr. Ian Duncan on Community.
In his native UK, he is known for his appearances on the panel of Mock the Week. He and Andy Zaltzman also hosted monthly (formerly weekly) podcast The Bugle (he moved on in 2016, now it's Zaltzman and a rotating guest host).
He also played The Princess' father in a two-parter episode of the 2014 Danger Mouse reboot, and Zazu in the 2019 re-imagining of The Lion King (1994).
Associated Tropes
- Berserk Button: He's been known to get visibly angry when covering mistreatment of veterans, probably because his wife is one.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: Not easily seen behind his glasses, but they are quite caterpillary.
- Deadpan Snarker: Being a British comedian, it kind of comes with the territory.
- Eagleland: Mixed flavor — John often remarks on how much he loves America and how glad he is to live there, while still making fun of it from an immigrant's perspective.
- My Country Tis of Thee That I Sting: Although he lives in the United States, he will still mock the United Kingdom in addition to the U.S..
- Oh, Crap, There Are Fanfics of Us!: He has a stand-up routine about the time a friend introduced him to Daily Show Slash Fic.
- Old Shame:
- Andy Zaltzman occasionally invoked his roles in The Love Guru and The Smurfs to ridicule Oliver to no end.
- One episode of Last Week Tonight featured an old clip from The Daily Show where Oliver jokingly said that Donald Trump should run for President, saying that it'd be hilarious. Present-day Oliver then admits that he has no justification for that.
- Self-Deprecation: About both his show and himself, he's admitted that he suspects being hired on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart was a fluke, outright laughed at his coverage for Jon Stewart being called 'triumphal' and referred to his own show as jumping way below the bar every week. And that's not even counting any of the many times he makes comments about his nose, eyebrows, or physical appearance in general.
