Essex chef Jamie Oliver has spoken of how his dyslexia has been the secret ingredient to his success.

Oliver gained international recognition in 1999 aged just 24 when he started his first show on television, the Naked Chef.

Now 42, he is a household name in the UK and is worth £150million, with a huge number of highly-successful television shows and books to his name.

But, in a recent interview Daily Mail, he has not put his natural cooking ability down as the key to his success, but to his learning difficulty - dyslexia.

The renowned chef said: “If I’m in a meeting I just see the problems differently and I obsess about things differently.

“Some bits of work need to be sweated over and cried over and crafted.

“Because I’m dyslexic, sometimes, when it requires a load of stuff to be done, I just do it.

“It’s like I’m a massive ten-tonne boulder rolling down the hill.”

“I genuinely think that when someone says to you, ‘Johnny’s got dyslexia’, you should get down on your knees, shake the child’s hand and say, ‘Well done, you lucky, lucky boy.’

“Long-term success is about finding something that you’re good at. Because ultimately, what do we all need?

We need to be fed, hugged, shown a bit of love, and to be safe. Everything else on top of that is gravy, really.’