John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor and television host.
Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian, both in the United Kingdom and United States. He came to wider attention for his work on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as its senior British correspondent from 2006 to 2013. Oliver won three Primetime Emmy Awards for his work as a writer on The Daily Show and was its guest host for an eight-week period in 2013. In addition to The Daily Show, Oliver co-hosted the satirical comedy podcast The Bugle (2007-15) with Andy Zaltzman, with whom Oliver had previously co-hosted the radio series Political Animal, and hosted John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show on Comedy Central from 2010 to 2013. He has also acted on television, most notably in a recurring role as Ian Duncan on the NBC sitcom Community.
Since 2014, Oliver has been the host of the HBO series Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. He has received widespread critical and popular recognition for his work on the series, whose influence over US culture, legislation and policymaking has been dubbed the "John Oliver effect". For his work on Last Week Tonight, Oliver has won six Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award and was included in the 2015 Time 100, being described as a 'comedic agent of change...powerful because he isn’t afraid to tackle important issues thoughtfully, without fear or apology.'