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Iolo Williams Iolo Tudur Williams (born 1962, in Builth Wells, Powys) is a Welsh nature observer and television presenter, best known for his BBC and S4C nature shows.
Biography The son of a headmaster, his family moved to Pembrokeshire, before returning to Powys when he was aged five to live in Llanwddyn near Lake Vyrnwy. Educated at Llanfyllin High School, after gaining two A levels in Biology and French, he almost joined the British Army but instead went to college in London, graduating with a degree in ecology.
Career After graduation, he worked on a farm and then in the timber trade, before joining the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in 1985, staying for 14 years working in the field and as a regional co-ordinator. This lead him to making regular appearances in the media, making a name for himself as a leading expert on Welsh bird life.
In 1997 he made "Visions of Snowdonia" with BBC Wales, which followed the lives of six people living and working on the slopes of the country's highest mountain. After making a second series, in 1999 Williams decided to leave the RSPB and pursue a full-time career in the media. He presently makes his main appearances on BBC Wales, and with wider Welsh focused programs on S4C in his first language of Welsh made by independent tv company Telesgop.
Known when he has the opportunity to wear shorts, he has resultantly become a Welsh cult gay icon. In 2007, Williams was awarded an honorary fellowship of the University of Bangor.
Personal life Williams and his wife Ceri live near the town of Newtown. The couple have two sons (Dewi and Tomos); and two rescue dogs Ianto and Gwen, who have both appeared in some of his television series.
Williams and his wife built a timber framed home, fully insulated, double glazed with energy saving lightbulbs throughout. They have a wildlife garden, and grow their own vegetables. They compost all their food waste and recycle everything else whilst always eating organic and local produce. Resultantly, in a World Wide Fund for Nature survey of carbon footprints of ecology personalities, Williams and his family were found to have a very low rating of 1.81 compared to a Welsh average of 3.0.
Filmography Television
- Gwyllt (S4C)
- Natur Anghyfreithlon (S4C)
- Crwydro (S4C)
- Canals of Wales (BBC)
- Wild Wales (BBC)
- Wild Winter (BBC)
- Iolo's Special Reserves (BBC)
- Iolo's Natural History of Wales (BBC)
- Iolo's Welsh Safari 2005 (BBC)
Works
- Blwyddyn Iolo, Gwasg Gwynedd, 2003 *Crwydro, Hughes a'i Fab, 2004
- Wild about the Wild Gwasg Gomer, 2005
- Cwm Glo Cwm Gwyrdd 2008
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