Jamie Oliver collects $15 million after boost from overseas restaurants

Jamie Oliver benefited from an uptick in revenues in his business interests, which includes TV shows, book publishing and restaurants. Photo / AP

Jamie Oliver paid himself a dividend of nearly £7 million ($15m) last year after expanding his restaurant franchise overseas.

The payout signals a revival in Oliver’s fortunes, as he also plans to launch a new UK site for the first time since his Jamie’s Italian chain went bust in 2019.

Across his business empire, which is made up of TV shows, book publishing and restaurants, Oliver reported an 8.1 per cent jump in revenues to £29.7m for the year to December 2022.

The group also boosted pre-tax profits by 17.5 per cent to £7.7m compared to the previous year, paving the way for a £6.8m dividend.

Last year, Oliver’s restaurant franchise added 13 new sites, bringing its total to 70 across 22 countries.

This includes new Jamie’s Italian sites in Dubai and a Jamie Oliver’s Pizzeria in India.

Last year, the company scrapped a franchise agreement in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.

Oliver’s new book, ONE, was published in September 2022 and has so far sold two million copies.

British cook Jamie Oliver presenting his cookbook ONE. Photo / Getty Images

The turnaround comes four years after the collapse of Jamie’s Italian, which forced the closure of 22 restaurants and led to the loss of 1000 jobs.

The chef was also forced to shut his Barbecoa steakhouses in London, as well as his flagship restaurant Fifteen.

The failure of his UK restaurants left behind debts of £80m and Oliver said earlier this year it was “without doubt one of the hardest times of my life”.

However, in May, Oliver announced he would open his first UK eatery since 2019, which will be called Jamie Oliver Catherine Street and located in London’s West End as of this year’s northern autumn.

A branch of the Jamie's Italian chain of restaurants in London, pictured in 2019. Photo / Getty Images

He said the new site would go back to his “culinary roots inspired by the dishes I grew up cooking in my mum and dad’s pub restaurant”.

His business appointed Kevin Styles, a former executive at cinema chain Vue, as its new chief executive in July last year.

Styles said: “The results for 2022 show we have the foundations in place from which to continue to evolve our business.”

Oliver rose to fame in the early 2000s with his TV show The Naked Chef, and a cookbook with the same title.

He is also known for his campaigns against junk food.