Olivia Potts

She grew up in Newcastle and studied English at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.Potts, Livvy. [https://www.corpus.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/files/Development%20Files/Pelicans%201/Pelican-Lent-09-v9.pdf "President of the Cambridge Union"]. The Pelican, Issue 17, Lent term, 2009, pp. 20-1. Retrieved 1 June 2024. During her time at Cambridge she was president of the Cambridge Union. She then studied law at City, University of London{{cite web |title=Olivia Potts: Education |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-potts-1b472215/details/education/ |website=LinkedIn |access-date=21 February 2023}} and was called to the bar in 2011, practising criminal law for five years.

Soon after Potts had qualified as a barrister, her mother died suddenly aged 54. Potts found that cooking, especially baking, helped her to cope with her loss, and took this further by enrolling for a nine-month pâtisserie diploma course at Le Cordon Bleu in London. She wrote about this part of her life in a memoir, A Half Baked Idea, which was published in 2020,{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=P. D. |title=A Half Baked Idea by Olivia Potts review – from crown court to creme caramel |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/aug/01/a-half-baked-idea-by-olivia-potts-review-barrister-patisserie-chef |access-date=21 February 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=1 August 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Sophie |title=A Half Baked Idea by Olivia Potts: how baking saved writer from grief |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/books/half-baked-idea-olivia-potts-review-cookery-grief-321033 |access-date=21 February 2023 |work=inews.co.uk |date=2 August 2019 |language=en}} and won the Debut Book section of the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards. She won the Guild of Food Writers award for Food Writing in 2020, for her writing in Slightly Foxed, The Guardian, Grazia, The Spectator and Glamour.{{cite web |title=Awards 2020 Winners: Judges' Comments |url=https://www.gfw.co.uk/2020/awards-2020-winners-judges-comments/ |website=www.gfw.co.uk |publisher=Guild of Food Writers |access-date=21 February 2023}} Her second book, Butter, a cookery book, appeared in 2022;{{cite news |last1=Ferrier |first1=Morwenna |title=Whipped, hip and drizzled in honey: why Britain is back in love with butter |url=https://www.theguardian.com/food/2022/oct/07/whipped-hip-and-drizzled-in-honey-why-britain-is-back-in-love-with-butter |access-date=21 February 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=7 October 2022}}{{cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 - The Food Programme - The Food Programme’s Books of 2022 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/PtPZPcrhlCq6RscgyLLX7l/the-food-programme-s-books-of-2022 |website=BBC |access-date=21 February 2023}} Nigella Lawson said of it that Potts "explains, educates, inspires, and writes like an angel with devilish wit".{{cite web |last1=Lawson |first1=Nigella |title=Butter by Olivia Potts |url=https://www.nigella.com/cookbook-corner/butter-by-olivia-potts |website=Nigella.com |access-date=21 February 2023 |language=en |date=15 September 2022}}

She writes on food for publications including The Spectator{{cite news |title=Olivia Potts |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/writer/olivia-potts/ |access-date=21 February 2023 |work=The Spectator}} and North-West England website Confidentials.com.{{cite web |title=Celebrated food writer Olivia Potts joins the Confidentials.com team |url=https://confidentials.com/manchester/celebrated-food-writer-olivia-potts-joins-the-confidentials-team |website=Confidentials |access-date=21 February 2023 |language=en |date=13 January 2023}}

On 27 February 2023, Potts was a guest on BBC Radio 4's The Museum of Curiosity.{{cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 - The Museum of Curiosity, Series 17, Episode 2 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001jkl9 |website=BBC |access-date=21 February 2023}} Her hypothetical donation to this imaginary museum was a jar of marmalade.

Potts lives with her husband and child in the west of Greater Manchester.

• {{cite book |last1=Potts |first1=Olivia |title=Butter: a celebration |date=2022 |publisher=Headline Home |location=London |isbn=978-1472284648}}
• {{cite book |last1=Potts |first1=Olivia |title=A half baked idea: how grief, love and cake took me from the courtroom to Le Cordon Bleu |date=2020 |publisher=Penguin |location= |isbn=978-0241380468}}

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• {{official website|https://ahalfbakedidea.co.uk/}}

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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Living people

Category:British food writers

Category:21st-century British women

Category:Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

Category:Alumni of City, University of London

Category:Alumni of Le Cordon Bleu

Category:Writers from Newcastle upon Tyne