Jamie Oliver pulls children’s book, apologises to indigenous Australians for causing offence

British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has faced criticism for his new children's book, with Penguin Random House conceding that "our publishing standards fell short on this occasion". Photo / Getty Images

British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has apologised and withdrawn a children’s book he wrote after it was criticised for causing offence to indigenous Australians.

Oliver is among a long list of celebrities to have produced their own book for youngsters, but the Australian subplot in Oliver’s Billy And The Epic Escape was criticised for being damaging and disrespectful, the Guardian reported.

It said the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation blasted the book, which tells the story of a First Nations girl living in foster care, for contributing to the “erasure, trivialisation, and stereotyping of First Nations peoples and experiences”.

In a statement, Oliver, 49, said: “I am devastated to have caused offence and apologise wholeheartedly. It was never my intention to misinterpret this deeply painful issue.

“Together with my publishers we have decided to withdraw the book from sale.”

Oliver and Penguin Random House UK conceded that no consultation with any Indigenous organisation, community or individual took place before the book was published.

Jamie Oliver pulled his new children's book Billy and the Epic Escape from shelves after it was criticised for causing offence to Indigenous Australians. Photo / Penguin Random House

A spokesman for publisher Penguin Random House said: “Our mission at Penguin Random House UK is to make books for everyone and with that commitment comes a deep sense of responsibility. It is clear that our publishing standards fell short on this occasion, and we must learn from that and take decisive action.

“With that in mind, we have agreed with our author, Jamie Oliver, that we will be withdrawing the book from sale.”

Oliver released his first children’s book, Billy And The Giant Adventure, last year and said in a social media post that he had “carefully chosen the font to make sure the text is as clear as possible” as dyslexic people like himself can find it hard to read.

The famous cook is known for fronting multiple TV series including Jamie’s Easy Christmas (2022), Jamie Cooks The Mediterranean (2023) and Jamie: Fast And Simple.

In the 2000s he was known as The Naked Chef, after his 1999 book and TV series of the same name.