Jonathan Otter Self (born 11 March 1959 in Hammersmith, London) is an English author and journalist.

Early life

Self was raised in Hampstead, London. His father was the British journalist and academic

Peter Self Peter John Otter Self (7 June 1919 – 29 March 1999) was an English journalist, academic, planning policy-maker and university teacher of planning. Self was born in Brighton, to Audrey (Otter) and Henry Self, a civil servant. Self was educated a ...

. His mother, Elaine (born Rosenbloom), was American and worked in publishing. His brother,

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...

, is a novelist and broadcaster.

Career

Self began his career as an advertising copywriter and in 1982 founded Self Direct, a direct-marketing agency. He sold the business in 1993. In 2001, Self published an autobiography, ''Self Abuse''. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' stated that Self "is a talented writer with an extraordinary family history to relate. He catalogues the failings of a family so dysfunctional and cruel that even with his talent for sardonic one-liners the tone is one of unrelenting despair." In a humour column of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', a one-line summary of the book states, "The brother of the more famous Will ODs in therapy and splurges the results over 247 pages". Self has since written a number of other books, including ''The Teenagers Guide to Money'' which was notably ranked as the #5 best investing book for teens by a UK financial education website. He has contributed regularly to the British media including ''Country Life'', ''

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' and ''

The Mail on Sunday ''The Mail on Sunday'' is a British conservative newspaper, published in a tabloid format. It is the biggest-selling Sunday newspaper in the UK and was launched in 1982 by Lord Rothermere. Its sister paper, the ''Daily Mail'', was first pub ...

''. In 2009 he collaborated with Arabella Lennox-Boyd on "Welcome to Dream Acres", a '' Country Life'' series about landscape gardening. He is one of the founders of Honey's, an ethical

dog food Dog food is food specifically formulated and intended for consumption by dogs and other related canines. Dogs are considered to be omnivores with a carnivorous bias. They have the sharp, pointed teeth and shorter gastrointestinal tracts of ca ...

company, which is the subject of one of his books. Self acts as a Special Adviser to the

World Land Trust The World Land Trust is a UK registered charity. It raises money to buy and then protect environmentally-threatened land in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America. In 2018 it claimed to have raised more than £25 million and to have bought ...

, an environmental charity. In 2016, he made a Radio 4 Charity Appeal on behalf of

Room to Read Room to Read is a global non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California. The organization focuses on working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments to improve literacy and gender equalit ...

. Self is now a trustee of the Rainforest Trust.

Personal life

Self is married. He and his wife Rose have seven children between them.

Works

*''Self Abuse'' (John Murray, 2001), a memoir *''The Teenager's Guide to Money'' (Quercus, 2007), a personal finance guide for teenagers *''Honey's Natural Feeding Handbook for Dogs'' (Mammoth, 2012), a guide to diets for dogs *''Emerald'' (Thames & Hudson, 2013), a guide to the world's emerald trade *''Good Money'' (Head of Zeus, 2017), a guide on how to become an ethical entrepreneur

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Self, Jonathan Living people 1959 births English male journalists Jonathan