Ben O'Donoghue
Ben O'Donoghue, born Benjamin O'Donoghue on 22 May 1970 in England, is an Australian chef. His family moved to Port Hedland, Western Australia when he was five and then to Perth when he was ten. He started as a kitchen hand on Rottnest Island, then trained as a chef at Jo Jo's in Nedlands. He later became a sous chef at Jessica's Seafood Restaurant in Perth, and worked as a chef in Sydney and Double Bay, where Tribeca earned the Best New Restaurant Award in 1993.
In 1996 he moved to the United Kingdom to work at The River Café. He became Head Chef at Monte’s Club in Knightsbridge with Jamie Oliver and later led the kitchens at the Atlantic Bar & Grill, helping Oliver Peyton open the National Dining Room at the National Gallery. He also worked as a consultant and food stylist, and cooked for prominent leaders.
O'Donoghue appeared on Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef and then hosted his own show in Morocco for American TV. In 2002 he co-presented BBC Two’s The Best. He returned to Australia to film Surfing the Menu with Curtis Stone for the ABC, which aired in 2003 and ran for several seasons. From 2007 he appeared on LifeStyle Food in The Best in Australia, Drive Thru Australia, Tom & Ben's Singapore, and Aussie BBQ Hero. He competed in MasterChef Australia’s Celebrity Chef Challenge in 2009.
He has published four cookbooks with Hardie Grant Books: Outdoor: Grill Your Way Round the World; Ben's Barbeque; At Home With Ben; Ben's Barbecue Bible; and Ben's Meat Bible (2015). He has also written for Delicious magazine.
O'Donoghue owned three Brisbane restaurants—Billykart Kitchen, Billykart West End, and Billykart Bar. He sold Billykart Kitchen in 2021, and Billykart West End faced administration in 2023. He lives in Australia with his wife Dee and their three children, Ruby, Herb, and Cash.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 02:05 (CET).