Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson, born on 11 April 1960, is an English television presenter, journalist, farmer, and author who has become one of the most recognisable and controversial figures in British entertainment, best known for his long-running association with motoring television. Rising from a career as a local journalist in northern England, Clarkson first gained public prominence as a presenter of the original format of Top Gear in 1988, a role that would define his professional life. By the mid-1990s, he had established himself as a major public personality, regularly hosting his own shows for the BBC and appearing as a guest on numerous other programmes. In addition to his motoring work, Clarkson has produced documentaries on history and engineering, authored many books primarily about cars, and in 1998 hosted the first series of Robot Wars as well as his own BBC Two talk show, simply titled Clarkson.

In 2002, Clarkson, alongside producer Andy Wilman, devised the relaunched version of Top Gear, which he co-hosted with Richard Hammond and James May (initially alongside Jason Dawe). The revised show became the most widely-broadcast factual television programme in the world, propelling Clarkson to international fame and earning him a devoted following. His opinionated, humorous, and often tongue-in-cheek presenting style, however, frequently sparked controversy, drawing criticism from the media, politicians, and pressure groups. Despite this, the British public ranked him number 19 in ITV’s poll of TV’s 50 Greatest Stars in 2006, a testament to his significant cultural impact. In 2015, the BBC chose not to renew Clarkson’s contract after he assaulted a Top Gear producer while filming on location, ending his long tenure with the network. Undeterred, Clarkson, Hammond, May, and Wilman formed the production company W. Chump & Sons to create The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime Video, which ran from 2016 to 2024.

Clarkson has continued to expand his media presence, hosting the ITV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? since 2018 and writing weekly columns for The Sunday Times and The Sun. In a surprising career pivot, he became a farmer at Diddly Squat Farm in 2019, documenting his experiences in the documentary series Clarkson's Farm, which premiered in 2021. The show received widespread positive reception and became a hit on Prime Video. In May 2024, the "Clarkson’s clause" amendment, named after him, was introduced to make it easier to convert unused agricultural buildings to commercial usage, a direct result of his highly publicised planning battles on the show. Through his motoring legacy and his later farming ventures, Clarkson remains a polarising yet enduring figure in British popular culture.