Jamie Oliver Sells £100M Worth of Books, Is Second to JK Rowling

Not that he needed any more confirmation that he was the most successful celebrity chef in the UK right now, but Jamie Oliver has just been named the second biggest selling author in his home country, right after “Harry Potter” creator JK Rowling.

The book that helped him move £100 million worth of cookbooks is his latest release, “Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals,” which moved about 80,000 copies last week.

This way, Jamie climbed his way to the top being second only to the author of the incredibly successful series of books “Harry Potter,” JK Rowling, Contact Music reports.

“Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has sold more than £100 million worth of recipe books, second only to Harry Potter author JK Rowling,” the e-zine reports.

“The 35-year-old has topped the bookselling charts with this 30-Minute Meals cookery book, selling 80,000 copies last week,” Contact Music also notes.

Part of the explanation why Jamie’s books are so successful right now is that the effects of recession are still being felt, which means people are also looking for ways to cook tasty meals without breaking the bank.

As anyone who’s watched at least one of his shows, Jamie is more than able to deliver that, while also offering recipes for “fancier” dishes.

“It's perfect for this moment. People are time-rushed and in this recession want to cook more at home,” Tom Weldon, managing director of Jamie’s publisher Penguin General Books, says of the wonderful reception Jamie’s latest book got.

“The reason Jamie has done so well over the past decade is he's obsessed with every single detail in his books,” Mr. Weldon adds.

Right now, Jamie is preparing to take his “Food Revolution” to Los Angeles, where he’s set to start taping for the second season of the Emmy-winning reality show, as we also reported a while back.

Sadly, things are not going as smoothly as anticipated, with several school already saying they don’t need the chef’s assistance in improving meals for their students – because the measures have already been applied.