ABOUT
Chef / Award Winning Author / Le Cordon Bleu Chef Ambassador / Speaker / Television Presenter
Robert Oliver is a New Zealand chef who was raised in Fiji and Samoa. He has developed restaurants in New York, Miami, Las Vegas and Sydney, “farm to table” resorts in the Caribbean and food programs feeding homeless people and African immigrants with AIDS in New York City.
Robert returned to the South Pacific to write his first book, Me’a Kai: The Food and Flavours of the South Pacific (Random House, New Zealand), with Dr. Tracy Berno and Fiji photographer Shiri Ram. Written with a mission to connect Pacific agriculture to the regions tourism,
Me’a Kai stunned the food world by winning top prize, “Best Cookbook in the World 2010,” at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Paris, considered to be the Pulitzers of cookbooks, beating the books from NOMA and The New York Times.
In 2013, Robert released “Mea’ai Samoa: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of Polynesia” (Random House). In May 2014, this book won the “Best TV Chef Cookbook in the World 2013” at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Beijing.
Robert is Chef Ambassador for Le Cordon Bleu, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands and is the presenter of REAL PASIFIK, a television series based on the food culture of the South Pacific.
He is a features contributor to The Huffington Post (New York) and Global Gourmet Beijing. Robert was a keynote speaker at TEDx Auckland in 2013 and was one of the authors chosen to represent New Zealand at the Frankfurt Bookfair in 2012 and between 2011 & 2012 Consulting Chef for NZ Trade & Enterprise (NZTE) in China (based in Shanghai). In 2014 and 2015 Robert appeared as one of the Tasting Panel judges in “My Kitchen Rules New Zealand” and co hosted “Marae Kai Masters” with renowned actor Te Kohe Tuhaka on Maori TV”.
Robert is also co-owner and director of Kai Pasifika in Auckland, New Zealand’s first Pasifik themed restaurant.
For bookings please contact agent: Johnson & Laird Management, NZ // bookings@johnsonlaird.com
Download Robert Oliver's CV and Bio Image
“I love the adrenaline, emotion and the energy on My Kitchen Rules NZ. What you see on the screen is real for us in the studio as well; an incredible calibre of cuisine, New Zealand cooks are creating” – Robert Oliver
SPEAKER
Robert Oliver spoke at TEDxAuckland about RECIPES FOR DEVELOPMENT (WATCH Robert's talk below)
Television
Robert Oliver's experience on screen
Experience
A list of experience from around the world
Restaurants
OwnerChef/ Creator: Rumjungle (Las Vegas)
Executive Chef/ Owner: SUVA (Miami, with Marisa Tomei)
Executive Chef/ Creator NOA (Miami)
Executive Chef/ Creator: The Green Table (New York City)
Consultant Chef- Asia de Cuba (New York City)
Owner – Kai Pasifika (Auckland, New Zealand)
Catering Companies
Executive Chef: Taste Caterers (New York City)
Executive Chef: The Cleaver Company (New York City)
Executive Chef: Laura Belle (New York City)
Instruction
Chef/ Instructor: The Institute of Culinary Education, New York City
Chef Instructor: The Fiji Hotel Association
Hotels
Consultant (Development) Chef: Almond Resorts (Barbados, St Lucia)
Consultant: Musket Cove Resort, Fiji
Community Food Programmes
Creator Earth Action, New York City- a restaurant based programme supplying quality meals to New York Citys hungry and homeless
Volunteer Chef: God’s Love We Deliver, New York City- provides essential food and nutrition services to men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and other serious illnesses
Volunteer Chef/ Instructor: Safespace. Times Square, New York City- producing meals andcookery lessons for HIV+ teens in Times Square
Volunteer Chef/ Instructor: African Services Committee, New York City- cooking lessons for recently arrived HIV+ African immigrants
Author/Writer
Me’a Kai : The Food and Flavours of the South Pacific (Random House, NZ). Winner: Best Cookbook in the World 2010, Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, Paris 2011
Mea’ai Samoa: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of Polynesia, Random House NZ. Winner Best TV Chef Cookbook in the World, Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, Beijing 2104
Food and Travel Writer “ The Huffington Post”
Features Contributor- Global Gourmet Magazine, Beijing, China // MACO Caribbean, Barbados // MAI LIFE, Fiji
Television
REAL PASIFIK, Zoomslide Productions, New Zealan
My Kitchen Rules NZ, Imagination TV, NZ
Marae Kai Masters, Maori TV
Robert Olivier has recently presented at The Food Show with Cindy of Samoa. Click here to view clip.
Ambassador
Robert Oliver is the ambassador for the following organisations
Oxfam is a world-wide development organisation that mobilises the power of people against poverty.
With 70 years of experience in more than 90 countries, Oxfam works to find practical, innovative ways for people to lift themselves out of poverty and thrive.
