Nicholas David Arundel Owen (born 10 February 1947) is an English

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...

and radio presenter. He now works for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, presenting on the

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

channel and

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

, and hosts a weekly programme on Classic FM radio.

Early life

Born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, to Tom and Edna Owen, he moved with his family while a child to

Kingswood, Surrey Kingswood or Kingswood with Burgh Heath is a residential area on the North Downs in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. Part of the London commuter belt, Kingswood is just to the east of the A217 separating it from Tadwor ...

, and was raised there and in the Redhill and

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...

area. He was initially educated at Hamsey Green primary school,

Sanderstead Sanderstead is a village and medieval-founded church parish at the southern end of Croydon in south London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, and formerly in the historic county of Surrey, until 1965. It takes in Purley Downs and S ...

but after his mother died when he was aged eight, he was raised by his father and sent for a period to

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

, at what is today

The Beacon School The Beacon School (also called Beacon High School) is a highly-selective college-preparatory public high school in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City near Times Square and the Theater District. Beacon's curriculum exceeds the ...

, a state comprehensive Academy school on Picquets Way in

Banstead Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is south of Sutton, south-west of Croydon, south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and south of Central London. On the North Downs, it is on three of the four main ...

in Surrey, but was then known as ''Banstead County Secondary School'', a state Secondary Modern School for boys, which later merged with the girls' school to become ''Nork Park County Secondary School'' in 1963. Owen left what was then West Ewell secondary modern, on Danetree Road in

Ewell Ewell ( , ) is a suburban area with a village centre in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, approximately south of central London and northeast of Epsom. In the 2011 Census, the settlement had a population of 34,872, a majority of wh ...

(also in Surrey), with five

O-levels The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...

Career

Owen began his journalistic career on the ''Surrey Mirror'' in 1964, aged 17, before moving to

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

in 1968 to work for the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

''. He then joined ''

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 fo ...

'' before spending seven years with the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

''. He then joined the magazine ''Now'' in 1979 as Deputy Business Editor, later becoming Business Editor. In 1981, Owen switched to television reporting, joining the

in the north of England, covering general and industrial stories for both regional and national news and current affairs programmes. He described colleague Mike Neville, a well-known North East newsreader and presenter, as his mentor in a 2004 article. Owen moved to

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based television production company. It is made up of two divisions: Broadcast News and ITN Productions. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, N ...

in 1984, as

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

' Business and Economics Correspondent. During the

First Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

he presented the highly acclaimed ''Midnight Special'' Programmes when they were launched on Channel 4. He also anchored ''The Parliament Programme'', Channel 4's first daytime political series. Between 1991 and 1994, he co-presented the ITN-produced ITV Lunchtime News with

Carol Barnes Carol Lesley Barnes (13 September 1944 – 8 March 2008) was a British television newsreader and broadcaster. She worked for ITN from 1975 to 2004. Early life Barnes was born in Norwich, and attended St Martin-in-the-Fields High School for ...

. From 1994 to April 2000 Owen was Royal Correspondent for

ITV News ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British television network ITV. ITV has a long tradition of television news. Independent Television News (ITN) was founded to provide news bulletins for the network in 1955, and has since conti ...

. In that capacity he played a major role in reporting on the death and

Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales The funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, started on Saturday 6 September 1997 at 9:08am in London, when the tenor bell of Westminster Abbey started tolling to signal the departure of the cortège from Kensington Palace. The coffin was carried ...

. He compiled a book on her life entitled ''Diana – The People's Princess''. Throughout this period, he was a regular presenter of weekend news bulletins on ITN, as well as a relief presenter for both the ITV Lunchtime and Early Evening bulletins. From 2003 to 2006, Owen once again became the main presenter of the ''

ITV Lunchtime News The ''ITV Lunchtime News'' is the afternoon news programme produced by ITN on the British television network ITV. It airs Monday to Friday from 1:30pm, covering British national and international news stories and is presented by Nina Hossain. ...

'' on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

. In April 2005, he joined

Katie Derham Catherine Beatrice Margaret Derham (born 18 June 1970) is a British newscaster and a presenter on television and radio. Early life and education Derham was born on 18 June 1970 in Canterbury, Kent to Margaret, a teacher, and John Derham, a chemi ...

on the programme, which was extended to 60 minutes as part of

ITV Day ITV Day was a programming block that broadcast on ITV1 from 9.25 am until 6.00 pm on weekdays and launched on 11 April 2005. The presentation was created by Bruce Dunlop Associates and said "ITV Day effectively creates a new brand, ...

. He contributed heavily to ITN's coverage of budgetary matters. In October 2006, Owen took part in BBC One's ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

''. He was voted off in the first week of the show on 7 October. Also in October 2006, he appeared on

ITV Play ITV Play was a short-lived 24/7 participation television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. The ITV Play name continued as a strand on the main ITV Network until December 2007. It was launched as a standalone channel on Freeview ...

's nightly game show '' The Mint'' and gave away the jackpot of over £130,000 to the winner. The

Press Office announced in November 2006 that Owen had signed to

as a presenter. Owen's last broadcast on ITV was the ''

ITV Evening News The ''ITV Evening News'' is the evening news programme produced by ITN on the British television network ITV. It airs Monday to Friday from 6:30pm, covering British national and international news stories and is presented by Mary Nightingale. ...

'' on 7 February 2007, and he took up his BBC News post on 3 March 2007. Owen is a relief presenter on the

BBC News Channel BBC News (also known as the BBC News Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television news channel for BBC News. It was launched as BBC News 24 on 9 November 1997 at 5:30 pm as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic telev ...

, as well as being a main relief presenter for the ''

BBC Weekend News ''BBC Weekend News'' is the BBC's national news programme on BBC One at the weekend and bank holidays, although it is often referred to on guides simply as ''BBC News''. It is called ''BBC Weekend News'' on all bulletins, apart from the late bul ...

'' on

. Owen has a regular Saturday afternoon show on Classic FM, and contributes to other radio and TV programmes.

Personal life

Owen is married to former newspaper reporter Brenda Firth. The couple live in Reigate, and have four children and eight grandchildren. In 2012 his autobiography ''Days Like This'' was published. In July 2002, Owen was diagnosed with

kidney cancer Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include spr ...

, and he became an Honorary Patron of

Kidney Cancer UK Kidney Cancer UK is a British charity established in 2000 to support "kidney cancer patients, their carers, medical professionals and scientific researchers."Doctor, Doctor'', broadcast on channel

Five 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

, in which he talked about his kidney cancer with the presenter and GP, Mark Porter. Owen explained that the cancer was found unexpectedly when he had a scan for abdominal pains, and that he had an operation to remove the diseased right kidney with the encapsulated tumour. Since the 1980s he has been a supporter of the charities

Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK (CRUK) is the world's largest independent cancer research organization. It is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom and Isle of Man, and was formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and t ...

and

ActionAid ActionAid is an international non-governmental organization whose stated primary aim is to work against poverty and injustice worldwide. ActionAid is a federation of 45 country offices that works with communities, often via local partner organis ...

, taking part in various fundraising events for these organisations. He is an Ambassador of

The Children's Trust 'The Children's Trust'' is the UK's leading charity for children with brain injury. The Children's Trust runs a range of specialist care, education and therapy services for children and young people from across the UK, including the UK's larges ...

, a UK charity for children with brain injury and neurodisability and a volunteer driver for the charity. He is also Patron of Dyscover Ltd a Surrey-based charity for people suffering from

aphasia Aphasia is an inability to comprehend or formulate language because of damage to specific brain regions. The major causes are stroke and head trauma; prevalence is hard to determine but aphasia due to stroke is estimated to be 0.1–0.4% in th ...

following stroke or brain injury. Owen has a passion for railways, and has written books on the

Brighton Belle The ''Brighton Belle'' was a named train which was operated by the Southern Railway and subsequently by British Rail from Victoria Station in London to Brighton, on the Sussex coast. Commissioned as the flagship of the Southern Railway's ...

and the history of the

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or troll ...

. Owen provides the voiceover on the

Tramlink London Trams, previously Tramlink and Croydon Tramlink, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It began operation in 2000, the first tram system in the London region since 1952. It is manage ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, telling passengers where the tram is going, and what the next stop is. Owen was a Vice-Patron of the

Bluebell Railway The Bluebell Railway is an heritage line almost entirely in West Sussex in England, except for Sheffield Park which is in East Sussex. It is managed by the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. It uses steam trains which operate between an ...

's project to extend the line towards , and in November 2008 was the public face of the launch to remove of domestic waste from Imberhorne cutting.

Bibliography

* * * *

References

External links

*
Nicholas Owen on Classic FM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Nicholas 1947 births Living people BBC newsreaders and journalists Bluebell Railway English male journalists People from Islington (district) ITN newsreaders and journalists People from Reigate Royal correspondents