Nick Owen

For the BBC News journalist also born 1947, see Nicholas Owen (journalist).

Nick Owen
Born	Nicholas Corbishley Owen 1 November 1947 (1947-11-01) (age 64) Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England
Nationality	British
Ethnicity	White British
Occupation	Broadcaster, newsreader
Years active	1974–present
Employer	BBC
Television	Good Morning with Anne and Nick (1992–96) Midlands Today (1997–present)
Spouse	Jill Lavery (m. 1977–2009) «start: (1977)–end+1: (2010)»"Marriage: Jill Lavery to Nick Owen" Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Owen) (Separated)
Children	4

Nicholas "Nick" Corbishley Owen ^[1] (born 1 November 1947) is an English television presenter and newsreader, best known for presenting the breakfast television programme TV-am and the BBC's local news show Midlands Today since 1997.^[2] He is also the current chairman of Luton Town Football Club.^[2]

Early life and education

Born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, to father Bertie, a headmaster and Dunkirk veteran, and mother Esme (née Burton), a music teacher, he attended Kingsland Grange prep school, an independent boarding school in Shrewsbury, between the ages of 7-13, then Shrewsbury School between the ages of 13-18. While at Kingsland Grange, Owen borrowed a Cliff Richard record from Bob Warman, who later went on to become the longest serving regional news presenter on ATV and later Central in the Midlands.^[2] Owen completed his education at the University of Leeds where he obtained a BA (Hons) degree in Classics in 1969.

Early career

Owen's first job was as a graduate trainee on the Doncaster Evening Post.^[2] After two years Owen moved to a job at the Birmingham Post, where he covered local football, including the 1982 World Cup among other duties. He started working for the BBC's local radio station Radio Birmingham in 1973, as a news producer and later as Sports Editor. His first live broadcast was an early morning news bulletin during the Les Ross show.

Television career

He joined ATV in 1978. He later became a presenter at Central TV, teaming up with Anne Diamond. He went on to present Good Morning Britain on TV-am in 1983, co-presenting it with Anne Diamond until 1986. He hosted a TV game show "Hitman" in the late 80s. He then became a presenter for ITV Sport after leaving TV-am until 1993 presenting Midweek Sports Special and also presented ITV's coverage of Euro 88 and the 1990 World Cup as well as the game show Sporting Triangles. From 1992 to 1996 he co-presented Good Morning with Anne and Nick on BBC One.^[2]

He is currently the main presenter on Midlands Today with Suzanne Virdee, the BBC regional television news programme for the West Midlands. He is well known for his awful jokes and puns, usually connected to light hearted stories. In the fictional world of Alan Partridge, he is friends with the chat show host.

Personal life

Owen married Jill Lavery in 1977 in Birmingham. The couple had four children together: Andy, Tim, Chris (born November 1986) and Jenny (born September 1988) and lived together in Birmingham until August 2009, when it was reported in the News of the World newspaper, that Nick and Jill have separated after 32 years of marriage, with Nick moving out of the family home. The reason for the separation was given as the couple just drifting apart. ^[3]

MySpace

On 17 October 2006, Midlands Today's science and environment correspondent David Gregory helped launch an official MySpace page for Owen in an attempt to make a mark on the world's largest blogging community. During that evening's bulletin when the page was featured, Owen's page received over 200 friend requests and a deluge of comments for the TV presenter. During the experiment, Owen received thousands of friend requests, emails and comments through the site, which closed in March 2007.^{[citation needed]}

Derbyshire County Cricket Club

He was elected to serve as the President for a two year period between 2007 and 2009.

Luton Town

Nick Owen, a lifelong fan, became the Club Chairman when the Luton Town Football Club 2020 consortium purchased the club in 2008 following a period in administration. The club began the 2008/09 season with a thirty point deficit, and were consequently relegated from the Football League to the Conference National on 13 April 2009.^[4] However, Luton did win the Football League Trophy that year in front of 42,000 Luton fans at Wembley, despite being the lowest placed team in the competition for the whole season.

Awards

In 2006, he was awarded the Baird Medal by the Royal Television Society, Midlands, for lifelong achievement in television.^[2]

He was also named National Speaker of the Year 2010 by the Association of Speakers Clubs, following such figures as Peter Ustinov, Terry Waite, Betty Boothroyd and Esther Rantzen.

Nick also triumphed on Celebrity Weakest Link in 2004, winning money for his chosen charity, St. Mary's Hospice, Birmingham.

References

1. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZEv9HVmdK4#t=13m16s
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} BBC Press Office Retrieved 21 July 2010
3. ^ "TV presenter Nick Owen splits from wife after 32 years together". Daily Mail. August 31, 2009. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1210219/TV-presenter-Nick-Owen-splits-wife-32-years-together.html. 
4. ^ Luton Town FC official web site Retrieved 21 July 2010

Publications

Owen, N. In the Time of Nick (Autobiography). Brewin Books, 2004

External links

• Midlands Today profile
• Nick Owen at the Internet Movie Database
• Receiving Baird Medal in October 2006
• Leeds University Classics alumni

Audio clips

• Talking about Luton Town

Persondata
Name	Owen, Nick
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1 November 1947
Place of birth	Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England
Date of death
Place of death

Media offices
Preceded by Alan Towers	Presenter of Midlands Today 1997–Present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Business positions
Preceded by Not known	Chairman of Luton Town F.C. 2008–Present	Succeeded by Incumbent

Business positions
Preceded by Not known	President of Derbyshire County Cricket Club 2007–2009	Succeeded by Not known