James was educated at Eton College^[1][2] and Magdalene College, Cambridge, graduating with a degree in Social Anthropology. He trained as a child clinical psychologist at the University of Nottingham, then worked for six years at the NHS Cassel Hospital in Richmond, London, in a clinical psychologist post. He was registered as a Relational Psychotherapist at the Bowlby Centre, and as a Chartered Psychologist at the British Psychological Society.^{[citation needed]}

Speaking on Channel 4's 2013 "Psychopath Night", James described the credit crunch as a "mass outbreak of corporate psychopathy which resulted in something that very nearly crashed the whole world economy".^[3]

As at 20 February 2024, James is not registered with either the Bowlby Centre or the British Psychological Society.^[4][5]

During his career in psychology, James has attracted controversy with his views on the nature versus nurture debate.^[6]

Stuart J. Ritchie, a psychologist at the University of Edinburgh, wrote a strongly critical review of James's book Not In Your Genes. He described the book as a "straw man made flesh", "a compendium of psychological myths and legends", and "bending over backwards to avoid awkward conclusions". Ritchie wrote, "Few books risk such damage to the public understanding of science as those by Oliver James", and accused James of "scientific illiteracy".^[7]

Ritchie described the book's thesis as "children are born with brains of soft clay, their mental makeup unaffected by genes and infinitely mouldable by their parents", and that "DNA has no effect on the mind or mental health, whereas parenting reigns supreme". Ritchie described a variety of evidence which contradicts this view.^[7]

Ritchie also responded to a letter from James in The Psychologist magazine,^[8] following which James and Prof Richard Bentall of the University of Liverpool engaged him in argument.^[9] James responded to Ritchie's criticisms in an article in The Guardian in March 2016.^[10]

Television edit

James produced The Last Day episode of the Channel 4 documentary short TV series Short Stories, which was released on the 1 June 1990.^[11][12] It documented The Mail on Sunday on their final day working at Fleet Street.^[11][12]

James co-produced the Wot U Lookin At? (also known as Wot You Lookin At?) episode of Horizon with David Malone, which was released on the 24 May 1993.^[13][14][15] It looks at the reasons for why men are seemingly violent, and why violence seems to be on the increase.^[13][14][15]

James produced the Prozac Diary special episode of The Late Show, which was broadcast on the 1 May 1995.^[16][17][18] It was broadcast as part of the States of Mind season.^[16][17][18] It follows the creative artists Michael Bracewell, Alice Thomas Ellis, Alan Jenkins, and Bernard Sumner, over 4 weeks to see if or how the Prozac that they've been given to take, affects their creativity.^[16][17][18]

James produced and presented the 7 episode talk show The Chair for BBC Two.^[19] It was first broadcast on the 21 May 1997, starting with Vanessa Feltz as the first guest.^[19][20][21] The other 6 guests included: Paul McKenna,^[22][23] Peter Mandelson,^[24][25] Patsy Palmer,^[26][27] Julian Clary,^[28][29] David Icke,^[30][31] and George Graham.^[32]

Books edit

• James, Oliver (1995). Juvenile Violence in a Winner-Loser Culture. Free Association Books. ISBN 1853433020.

• James, Oliver (1998). Britain on the Couch – Why We're Unhappier Compared with 1950 Despite Being Richer. Arrow Books. ISBN 0-09-924402-0.

• James, Oliver (2002). They F*** You Up: How to Survive Family Life. Bloomsbury. ISBN 0-7475-8478-8.

• James, Oliver (December 2007). Affluenza. Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-190011-3.

• James, Oliver (January 2008). The Selfish Capitalist. Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-192381-5.

• James, Oliver (November 2009). Contented Dementia: 24 hour Wraparound Care for Lifetime Wellbeing. Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-190181-3.

• James, Oliver (January 2010). Britain on the Couch (updated). Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-192984-8.

• James, Oliver (June 2010). How Not To F*** Them Up. Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-192391-4.

• James, Oliver (2012). Love Bombing - Reset your child's emotional thermostat. Karnac Books.

• James, Oliver (February 2013). Office Politics: How to Thrive in a World of Lying, Backstabbing and Dirty Tricks. Vermilion. ISBN 978-0-09-192394-5.

• James, Oliver (January 2014). How To Develop Emotional Health. School of Life/Pan Macmillan. ISBN 9780230771710.

• James, Oliver (March 2016). Not In Your Genes: The Real Reasons Children Are Like Their Parents. Vermilion. ISBN 9780091947668.

• James, Oliver (2016), Upping Your Ziggy: How David Bowie Faced His Childhood Demons - and How You Can Face Yours, Karnac Books, ISBN 1782204903

• Affluenza
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder controversies
• Narcissism in the workplace
• Machiavellianism in the workplace
• Psychopathy in the workplace

• Author website
• Bloomsbury author page
• Oliver James at IMDb
• Oliver James 1 at the British Film Institute^{[better source needed]}
• Oliver James 2 at the British Film Institute^{[better source needed]}