Charlie Ottley

Charlie Ottley (born 17 July 1971) is a British journalist, TV presenter, poet, and filmmaker. He gained fame by creating travel documentaries about Romania's natural landscapes, such as "Wild Carpathia" (2011) and "Flavours of Romania" (2017). Acknowledging his efforts in promoting culture and tourism, the Romanian government honoured him with The Cultural Merit Order in 2021.

Early life and education

Ottley was born and raised in Tichborne, Hampshire, England, on 17 July 1971.[1] He studied philosophy and theology at the Bristol University.[2][3] He attended journalism courses at City, University of London.

Career

Journalism

In 1996, starting as a news and feature writer, Ottley became a news-feed editor and later, a Hollywood correspondent for the World Entertainment News Network working from Los Angeles, US. In 1997, he returned to the UK and opted for poetry and column writing. He made regular appearances on BBC's programs; Five Live, The Today Programme, Saturday Live, and The Daily Politics. He also served as a freelance writer for the ITV, Channel 4, and World Online.

He penned a weekly column under the title of "Weekender" for The Daily Express, which he later in 2000, recreated and co-produced as a TV series for The Travel Channel. After that, he launched a food and travel series "Flavours Of Chile" on the same TV channel for the next twelve years, expanding it to 'flavours of' several other countries.[4]

Ottley continues to be a freelance journalist and contributor for the BBC, The Daily Mail, Food and Travel Magazine, Daily Express, and other media.[5]

Tourism

In 2011, Ottley produced a travel documentary about Romania's historical and tourist sites, Wild Carpathia, for the Travel Channel.[6][7][8] The documentary, also featuring Prince Charles, was broadcast around the world in 110 countries and translated into 11 languages.[9][10][2][11] In 2017, Ottley presented episode 4 of Wild Carpathia to 193 member state representatives and 400 VIPs at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.[12][4][13] The final episode of the documentary came in 2019.[14] Wild Carpathia was recognized as the "Best Documentary 2020" at the Alpin Film Festival in Brașov, Romania.

Ottley scripted, presented, produced, and directed another nine-part series, Flavours Of Romania for the Romanian National Television in 2017. Later, it was also aired on Romanian channels Digi 24, Digi World, Digi Life, TVR International, and Kanal D. It was one of the most-watched films on the Netflix.[15][16]

In 2020, Ottley wrote, edited, and narrated four short films for BBC to promote tourism in Romania. In June 2020, following Romania's post-Covid opening up, he produced and edited a five-minute documentary along with Prince Charles to support domestic tourism.[17][18][19][20]

In July 2020, Charlie collaborated with Brașov's city and county councils to produce four new films for BBC World News to promote the cultures of Brașov and Transylvania. In December 2021, he made a documentary about Danube Delta that was aired on Digi24 on Romania's national day.[21][22][23][24]

He has also worked with The European Nature Trust to protect Romania's environment, forests, and mountains.[5]

Ottley was made an honorary citizen of Brașov in September 2020.[25][16]

Personal life

Ottley is married to Oana Mihai. He moved to Romania and bought a house in Brașov County in 2021.[26][27][28]

Documentaries
  • Wild Carpathia (2011-2013)
  • Flavours of Colombia (2012)
  • Flavours of Romania (2017)

Books

Awards and honours

Ottley has received:

References
  1. BOERIU, Marius (July 21, 2021). "Un "Harley Davidson" la poartă: Producătorul BBC Charlie Ottley a avut parte de o vizită surpriză, de ziua lui, la casa din Șirnea". Bună Ziua Brașov (in Romanian).
  2. Grigorescu, Denis (December 27, 2021). "Viaţa de basm a lui Charlie Ottley la Șirnea: "A fost cea mai bună decizie să mă mut în România"". Adevarul (in Romanian).
  3. Matei, Tudor (March 18, 2018). "Un jurnalist britanic, absolvent de teologie, a făcut România celebră în toată lumea: "Mulți străini au idei preconcepute și nu realizează ce destinație fantastică este România"". active news (in Romanian).
  4. ""Wild Carpathia", în premieră la sediul ONU, din New York". Institutul Cultural Român, ICR (in Romanian). 27 June 2017.
  5. "Charlie Ottley s-a întors în Maramureș ca să simtă aroma pălincii și mâncărurilor tradiționale". Turism Maramures (in Romanian). September 21, 2017.
  6. Jackson, Julian (28 October 2011). "Wild Carpathia - Filming the Last Untouched European Wilderness". Earth Times.
  7. Manea, Corina (November 8, 2013). "Wild Carpathia – A Jewel in Romania´s Crown". Argophilia.
  8. "Charlie Ottley, prezentatorul "Wild Carpathia": Pădurea este cea mai importantă resursă a României". Media Fax (in Romanian). September 4, 2013.
  9. Alecu, Bogdan (December 1, 2021). "ZF Investiți în România! Charlie Ottley: România trebuie să investească mai mult în protejarea patrimoniului său, de la floră și faună la case vechi, iar astfel oamenii pot obține mult mai mulți bani din turism decât fac acum din tăieri ilegale, distrugeri și betoane". Ziarul Financiar (in Romanian).
  10. Ionașcu, Daniel (April 17, 2022). "Charlie Ottley, realizatorul documentarului Wild Carpathia, critică modul în care s-a prezentat România la târgul de turism de la New York Citește întreaga știre: Charlie Ottley, realizatorul documentarului Wild Carpathia, critică modul în care s-a prezentat România la târgul de turism de la New York". Libertatea (in Romanian).
  11. Fodor, Simona (25 October 2021). "Documentaries that highlight Romania's nature & wildlife". Romania-Insider.
  12. Marica, Irina (13 June 2017). "New Wild Carpathia episode on Romania's nature, screened at the UN". Romania-Insider.
  13. Marinescu, Aura (17 June 2017). "Documentarul "Wild Carpathia", prezentat în premieră la sediul central al ONU. Prințul Charles de Wales va adresa un mesaj video". News Romania (in Romanian).
  14. Chirileasa, Corina (24 October 2018). "Winter is coming for Wild Carpathia: the producers' plan for the Romania series finale". Romania-Insider.
  15. ""Flavours of Romania", serialul care a înregistrat un real succes pe Netflix, are Iașul în prim-plan. Imaginile surprinse fac deja înconjurul lumii. De unde a plecat întreaga poveste". BZI (in Romanian). October 9, 2020.
  16. "Arome din România". Observator Cultural (in Romanian). June 25, 2021.
  17. Ifland, Alta (14 August 2020). "Prince Charles and Romania". Royal Central.
  18. "Romania's Brașov to be promoted on BBC". Romania-Insider. 3 August 2020.
  19. Puiu, Alexandru (August 5, 2020). "Cea mai bună reclamă pentru România: prințul Charles te convinge să te plimbi prin țară". Playtech (in Romanian).
  20. Rateau, Grégory (August 10, 2020). "Le prince Charles exhorte les Roumains à redécouvrir leur pays". Lepetit Journal (in Romanian).
  21. Fodor, Simona (14 January 2021). "Wild Carpathia series producer Charlie Ottley awarded Romania's Cultural Merit Order". Romania-Insider.
  22. Fodor, Simona (2 December 2021). "Wild Carpathia producer Charlie Ottley releases documentary about Danube Delta". Romania-Insider.
  23. Rateau, Grégory (12 December 2021). "Charlie Ottley, producteur de Wild Carpathia, réalise un documentaire sur le delta". Lepetit Journal (in Romanian).
  24. Neacsu, Emil (February 18, 2021). "Charlie Ottley filmează în Delta Dunării noul său proiect, documentarul "Wild Danube"". Europa FM (in Romanian).
  25. Fodor, Simona (15 September 2020). "Central Romania: Producer of Wild Carpathia series becomes honorary citizen of Brașov". Romania-Insider.
  26. "Charlie Ottley, realizatorul "Wild Carpathia" s-a mutat în România. Britanicul și-a cumpărat în județul Brașov o veche gopodarie pe care a renovat-o". BZI (in Romanian). March 1, 2021.
  27. Voiculescu, Loredana (September 8, 2021). "Charlie Ottley, producătorul seriei BBC "Wild Carpathia", și-a cumpărat o fermă în județul Brașov: "Am 6.000 de metri pătrați de paradis"". Republica (in Romanian).
  28. "Viața de basm a lui Charlie Ottley la Șirnea: "A fost cea mai bună decizie să mă mut în România"". Adevarul (in Romanian). December 27, 2021.
  29. "Producătorul britanic care a lăudat România la BBC și-a cumpărat casă în Brașov". Newsweek Romania (in Romanian). 26 August 2020.
  30. "Meet the winners of the Romania Insider Awards, the 2018 edition". Romania-Insider. 16 October 2018.
  31. "Bihorul pe Netflix... cu pălincă și sarmale. Județul nostru apare în seria "Flavours of Romania" a cunoscutului realizator Charlie Ottley". Bihoreanul (in Romanian). September 15, 2020.
  32. "Jurnalistul britanic Charlie Ottley, decorat de Klaus Iohannis: "Am rămas fără cuvinte"". Digi 24 (in Romanian). 14 January 2021.
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