Jamie Paul Durie (born 3 June 1970) is an Australian horticulturalist and landscape designer, furniture designer, television host, television producer, and author of eleven books on landscape architecture, garden design and lifestyle.[1][2][3]
Durie was the television host of the 2008 Australian lifestyle program The Outdoor Room, broadcast on the Seven Network.[4] He hosted the design makeover show HGTV Showdown in 2009.[5] Durie hosted the US PBS series The Victory Garden from 2007 to 2010. The show is PBS network's longest-running gardening TV series.[6][7][2]
Following the end of The Outdoor Room on the Seven Network in 2010, Durie adapted the series the American HGTV network with a new team of designers, horticulturists and contractors.[8][9][10][11]
In November 2024,Growing Home with Jamie Durie aired on Channel 7, a series in which Durie documented making his family home sustainable and off-grid.
Early life
Durie was born in Manly, New South Wales, and spent his formative years living in Tom Price, Western Australia. His maternal grandmother, Daphne de Zylva, was born in Sri Lanka and met his English grandfather in the air force during World War II. They moved to Australia in the 1950s.[2] His parents separated when Durie was age 10, and he relocated with his mother and brother, Clyde Hep, to the Gold Coast. His paternal grandmother was a volunteer surf-lifesaver on the NSW Central Coast.[12]
Having left high-school in Brisbane at age 15, he tried his hand at cabinetmaking and modeled beachwear part-time. Durie got his showbiz start in his teens as an exotic dancer in the all-male revue troupe, Manpower Australia, with whom he toured for seven years.[13] At age 26, he completed a four-year horticultural and landscape design course.[14]
Landscape design and television hosting
Durie founded the landscape design company, Patio Landscape Architecture and Design, in 1998.[14] In 2002, Durie registered the Australian business company, JPD Media & Design.[15] He then hosted the TV series Backyard Blitz[16][17][18][19] and The Block.[20][19]
Furniture design and merchandise lines
In 2010, Durie's company Patio Landscape Architecture and Design was renamed Durie Design, committed to not just rejuvenating the existing gardens, but offering new outdoor destinations for the clients, and with an emphasis on furniture design.[30][14]
With his furniture design success, Durie has worked for Hollywood celebrity clients, such as designing 100 pieces of furniture for American talk show host and comedian Chelsea Handler and he designed garden landscapes for actress Charlize Theron for two years.[24][12]
In November 2024, Jamie Durie relaunched Patio by Jamie Durie, his signature outdoor living and lifestyle brand.
Awards and accolades
The Australian reality television garden makeover program Backyard Blitz, on the Nine Network, was the winner of six Logie Awards of Most Popular Lifestyle Program (from 2001 until 2006). Durie won the Logie Award for the Most Popular New Talent award in 2001, and was nominated for the Most Popular Presenter award for his role in Backyard Blitz from 2003 to 2005.[16][17]
Durie's 2003 landscape design book, Patio - Garden Design and Inspiration, (Allen & Unwin - ISBN 9781741146547) was short-listed APA Book Design Awards, for Best Designed Illustrated Book 2003 Australia.[31]
In 2008, Durie won a gold medal at Britain's prestigious Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show in Chelsea, London. A team of 22 workers built the AU$800,000, 200sqm celebration of the Kimberley landscape, called Australian Garden and designed by Durie, in 16 days. Australian Garden won one of the eight Gold Medals given in the Show Garden category. All the materials were shipped from Australia.[32]
Bibliography
- Patio : Garden Design and Inspiration - Author: Jamie Durie (2003), Allen & Unwin Publishers (Reprint: 2016).[31]
- Outdoor Kids: A Practical Guide for Kids in the Garden - Author: Jamie Durie (2005), Jamie Durie Publisher.[35][36]
- Inspired : The Ideas That Shape and Create My Design - Author: Jamie Durie (2006), HarperCollins Publishers.[37]
- 100 Gardens - Author: Jamie Durie (2011), Allen & Unwin Publishers.[38]
- The Outdoor Room - Author: Jamie Durie (2011), HarperCollins Publishers.
Personal life
Durie owns properties on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia, and in Los Angeles.[24] Durie is unmarried, but he has been engaged three times. He has stated, "I've always been career-focused and my relationships have suffered because of that".[12]
Durie has a grown-up daughter who lives in Los Angeles named Taylor, from his previous relationship with Michelle Glennock.[43] Durie says, "We go camping together, surfing and bike riding".[12][24][44][45]
Filmography
- Television
External links
References
- Book Depository. Results for Jamie-Durie - Book Depository www.bookdepository.com^
- Jamie Durie - Chefs www.pbs.org, 17 October 2011^
- Jamie Durie moves indoors 20 March 2018^