Oliver James (born 26 October 1953) is a British psychologist, author, journalist, television producer and broadcaster.

Career

James was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Ma ...

, graduating with a degree in Social Anthropology. He trained as a child clinical psychologist at the

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

, then worked for six years at the NHS

Cassel Hospital The Cassel Hospital is a psychiatric facility in a Grade II listed building at 1 Ham Common, Richmond, Ham in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is run by the West London NHS Trust. History The hospital The hospital was founded ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

, London, in a

clinical psychologist Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and persona ...

post. He is registered as a Relational Psychotherapist at the Bowlby Centre, and as a Chartered Psychologist at the British Psychological Society. Speaking on Channel 4's 2013 "Psychopath Night", James described the

credit crunch A credit crunch (also known as a credit squeeze, credit tightening or credit crisis) is a sudden reduction in the general availability of loans (or credit) or a sudden tightening of the conditions required to obtain a loan from banks. A credit cr ...

as a "mass outbreak of corporate psychopathy which resulted in something that very nearly crashed the whole world economy".

Reception of work

During his career in psychology, James has attracted controversy with his views on the

nature versus nurture Nature versus nurture is a long-standing debate in biology and society about the balance between two competing factors which determine fate: genetics (nature) and environment (nurture). The alliterative expression "nature and nurture" in English h ...

debate.

Stuart J. Ritchie Stuart James Ritchie is a Scottish psychologist and science communicator known for his research in human intelligence. He has served as a lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London since the ...

, a psychologist at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

, wrote a strongly critical review of James's book ''Not In Your Genes''. He described the book as a "straw man made flesh", "a compendium of psychological myths and legends", and "bending over backwards to avoid awkward conclusions". Ritchie wrote, "Few books risk such damage to the public understanding of science as those by Oliver James", and accused James of "scientific illiteracy". Ritchie described the book's thesis as "children are born with brains of soft clay, their mental makeup unaffected by genes and infinitely mouldable by their parents", and that " DNA has no effect on the mind or mental health, whereas parenting reigns supreme". Ritchie described a variety of evidence which contradicts this view. Ritchie also responded to a letter from James in '' The Psychologist'' magazine, following which James and Prof

Richard Bentall Richard Bentall (born 30 September 1956) is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Sheffield in the UK. Early life Richard Pendrill Bentall was born in Sheffield in the United Kingdom. After attending Uppingham School in Rutl ...

of the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

engaged him in argument. James responded to Ritchie's criticisms in an article in ''

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 ...

'' in March 2016.

Works

Television

James produced ''The Last Day'' episode of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

documentary short TV series ''Short Stories'', which was released on the 1 June 1990. It documented

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 ...

on their final day working at

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 n ...

. James co-produced the ''Wot U Lookin At?'' (also known as ''Wot You Lookin At?'') episode of

Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...

with David Malone, which was released on the 24 May 1993. It looks at the reasons for why men are seemingly violent, and why violence seems to be on the increase. James produced the ''Prozac Diary'' special episode of The Late Show, which was broadcast on the 1 May 1995. It was broadcast as part of the ''States of Mind'' season. It follows the creative artists Michael Bracewell,

Alice Thomas Ellis Alice Thomas Ellis (born Ann Margaret Lindholm, 9 September 1932 – 8 March 2005) was an English writer and essayist born in Liverpool. She wrote numerous novels and some non-fiction, including cookery books. Life Ellis was born in Liverpool t ...

, Alan Jenkins, and

Bernard Sumner Bernard Sumner (born 4 January 1956) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is a founding member of the bands Joy Division, New Order, and Electronic. Sumner was an early force in several areas, including the po ...

, over 4 weeks to see if or how the

Prozac Fluoxetine, sold under the brand names Prozac and Sarafem, among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is used for the treatment of major depressive disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorde ...

that they've been given to take, affects their creativity. James produced and presented the 7 episode

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...

''The Chair'' for

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

. It was first broadcast on the 21 May 1997, starting with

Vanessa Feltz Vanessa Jane Feltz is an English television personality, broadcaster, and journalist. She has appeared on various television shows, including ''Vanessa'' (1994–1998), ''The Big Breakfast'' (1996–1998), ''The Vanessa Show'' (1999), ''Celebr ...

as the first guest. The other 6 guests included:

Paul McKenna Paul William McKenna (born 8 November 1963) is a British hypnotist, behavioural scientist, television and radio broadcaster and author of self-help books. McKenna has written and produced books and multimedia products, hosted self-improv ...

Peter Mandelson Peter Benjamin Mandelson, Baron Mandelson (born 21 October 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who served as First Secretary of State from 2009 to 2010. He was President of the Board of Trade in 1998 and from 2008 to 2010. He is the ...

Patsy Palmer Julie Anne Merkell (''née'' Harris; born 26 May 1972), known professionally as Patsy Palmer, is an English actress and DJ, known for her roles as Natasha in the children's drama series ''Grange Hill'' (1985–1987), and Bianca Jackson in the ...

Julian Clary Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. Since then he has also acted in films, television and stage productions, numerous pantomim ...

David Icke David Vaughan Icke (; born 29 April 1952) is an English conspiracy theorist and a former footballer and sports broadcaster. He has written over 20 books, self-published since the mid-1990s, and spoken in more than 25 countries. In 1990, Ick ...

, and

George Graham George Graham (born 30 November 1944), nicknamed "Stroller", is a Scottish former Association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. In his successful playing career, he made 455 appearances in England's Football ...

Books

* * * * * * * * * * * * * James, Oliver (2016), ''Upping Your Ziggy: How David Bowie Faced His Childhood Demons - and How You Can Face Yours'', Karnac Books,

References

External links

Author website

Bloomsbury author page
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Oliver Living people English psychologists English television presenters British documentary filmmakers Alumni of the University of Nottingham Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge People educated at Eton College The School of Life people 1953 births