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Jamie Oliver’s wife Jools Oliver has revealed that she has been diagnosed with autism and ADHD, saying that not understanding her neurodivergence “ruined” her life for 45 years.
Clothing brand owner Jools shared the news during a podcast interview, stating: “I just think it’s quite draining. I think it’s tiring. I think, actually, it’s ruined, so far, 45 years of my life thinking it’s something else. It’s no superpower. It’s just a drain and it’s just really hard work.”
She revealed that she decided to announce her diagnosis to her friends and family via an invitation to her 50th birthday party last year.
Jools, who suffers from social anxiety, said on Lessons From Our Mothers podcast: “My 50th birthday invite, I decided to come out.” She told her chef husband: “Jamie, I’m going to tell everyone that I’m not normal because I put on such a great act of being really like, ‘Woo,’ and so social. In fact, it’s like my worst night. I’m such an introvert.’”
She said that “a lot of people didn’t come and were turned off”, but she thought to herself: “Well, this is me. I’m afraid this is the new 50. This is it.’”
The 51-year-old went on to say that she is “scared” to take prescribed medication due to her health anxiety. “I’ve got the medication, but I don’t want to take it because I’m scared due to health anxiety that something will happen,” she explained, calling it “one ongoing situation”.
Jools said that, following her attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis, she decided to get tested for autism after realising that she shares behavioural habits with her children, who were diagnosed with autism.
She said that she “just feels things so deeply”, adding: “I get so dramatic over things and I can be really up and down. And the empathy sometimes is painful.
“I don’t know whether that’s just a personality choice. Sometimes you don’t even know, or is it just the menopause? Am I just going through the menopause and I’m really going bonkers? I think when you do have neurodiversity, menopause is a double nightmare.”
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Jamie has previously discussed his wife’s neurodivergence, without revealing she had ADHD or autism, during a 2025 appearance on Davina McCall’s Begin Again podcast.
He said: “She’s quite in the background and she’s done that on purpose. She’s definitely the rock. She’s got incredible instinct, she’s incredibly kind, very funny. I love her to bits. I can’t really talk for her but she has neurodiversities that make her life really interesting and really challenging.
“Of course, there’s positives, but there’s loads of things that, you know – she makes us the way that we are. And I’m very grateful for Jools.”
The pair, who have four children, met as teenagers in 1993, and have been in a relationship for 33 years, and married since 2000.
NHS England figures shared in 2025 estimate that nearly 2.5 million people in England have ADHD, including those who are undiagnosed. The figures mark the first publicly available estimate of how common the condition is among the population.
Research also found earlier this year that a significant majority of autistic individuals over 40 in the UK are living without an official diagnosis. Researchers at King’s College London’s Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) reanalysed 2018 UK healthcare data, estimating that a staggering 91.45 per cent of autistic men and 79.48 per cent of autistic women aged 40 to 59 remain undiagnosed.
It found that 96.29 per cent of men and 97.19 per cent of women with autism over 60 are thought to be undiagnosed, with an overall rate of 96.51 per cent. Symptoms can include having specific and obsessive interests, a reliance on structure and difficulty in understanding social cues.
For more information about autism diagnosis and assessments, visit the National Autistic Society’s website at autism.org.uk.