Chip Kidd
Graphic designer extraordinaire
Oliver Jeffers
World-Renowned Picture Book Maker and Artist
TED | An ode to living on Earth
© Tompkins
Oliver Jeffers is one of those rare artists that has gained household recognition with parents, kids, and teachers while also maintaining his work as an innovative thinker beyond the books. His critically acclaimed picture books have sold over 14 million copies worldwide. Jeffers is an important voice on climate change, with much of his latest work focused on the planet and humanity. He speaks about power of storytelling, the value of community, and inspires audiences with his innovative art and creativity.
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About Oliver Jeffers
Oliver Jeffers is a world renowned artist, storyteller, and truly creative, innovative thinker, whose work has been celebrated by children and adults alike. His artwork has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world, including the Brooklyn Museum and High Line Park in New York, the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the Palais Auersperg in Vienna. He was the Art Director for U2’s “Songs of Innocent and Experience” tour and has collaborated with the band on their music videos. As a freelance artist, Jeffers has created illustrations for The New York Times, The Telegraph, Newsweek, and Oprah Magazine. His exhibitions Dipped Paintings and Life at Sea can be seen now at Praise Shadows Art Gallery and Brooklyn Museum respectively.
Oliver Jeffers highly acclaimed debut into the world of picture books with How to Catch a Star, was followed by the publication of the 2014 Children’s Choice Book Award’s Book of the Year, The Day the Crayons Quit, which also received the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award. One year later, Lost and Found, a poignant, funny, and heartwarming story about friendship, won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Gold Award and was the Blue Peter Book of the Year. It was later made into a BAFTA-winning animated short film. His eighteenth book published in 2017, Here We Are, was a New York Times bestseller that was named NPR Best Book of 2017, a Boston Globe Best Book of 2017, and a Times Magazine Best Book of the Year. Here We Are, which is an insightfully sweet and humorous user’s guide to life on Earth, has been adapted into a short-animated film narrated by Meryl Streep on Apple TV+. What We’ll Build, his exquisite picture book, is gorgeously told father-daughter story and companion to the #1 New York Times bestseller Here We Are. His newest picture book, I’m Very Busy, is out now.
A personable and entertaining speaker, Oliver Jeffers talks about how humor and curiosity drive his creativity, his writing and illustrating process, and his career both as an artist and an author. In his recent TED talk, he offers observations on the “beautiful, fragile drama of human civilization” paired with his original illustrations and animations.
Jeffers grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He went to Hazelwood College and graduated from the University of Ulster. He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York with his family.
Contact us for more information about booking Oliver Jeffers for your next event.
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Speaking Topics
Beginning Again: The Story of How We Got Here and Where We Might Go
On a visually stunning journey through humankind’s history, globally renowned artist and internationally bestselling author Oliver Jeffers examines our shared motivations for existence on planet Earth. He offers hope that change is possible, but only if we choose to create a new narrative together. It is through the power of storytelling that humanity can forge connection a find renewed purpose for the future.
The Working Mind and Drawing Hand of Oliver Jeffers
Open to all audiences but particularly focused towards young adult and adult. Jeffers discusses the power of storytelling through art, exploration in conceptual art, inspiration through observation and social activism. He shares his thoughts on storytelling, picture book making and navigating the world around us. The audience is taken through a brief history of his fine art practice and series, picture books, his social commentary, and how each practice cross-references and influences one another.
Drawing Pictures and Telling Stories
This interactive and family friendly event brings Oliver’s picture book characters to life through stories and live illustration.
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Video
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Praise for Oliver Jeffers
Praise for I’m Very Busy
Quirky illustrations, droll humor, and an amusing twist elevate this concisely told tale… Cleverly avoiding the predictable, this jaunty tale nonetheless offers a happy ending and celebrates the joys of friendship.
— Kirkus ReviewsModeling kind actions in lieu of an extended apology session, Jeffers (Begin Again) shows how sometimes making things right speaks louder than words.
— Publishers WeeklyThis is a story that reassures readers we all forget things at times, but when people work together, the day can end on a positive note and be memorable.
— School Library JournalPraise for There’s a Ghost In This House
Unquestionably eerie but still light-hearted.
— The New York Times Book ReviewMr. Jeffers has pulled off quite a trick here: He has managed to turn Shirley Jackson’s "The Haunting of Hill House” into a cheery, unthreatening seek-and-find for children.
— The Wall Street JournalJeffers adds loose line drawings to found black-and-white photographs of an 18th-century mansion that has plenty of dark corners—the narrator climbs a library ladder, lingers in hallways, and peers in cupboards and under a bed. Since readers decide when the ghosts appear, anxiety-inducing suspense isn’t an issue in this conceptually comic treat that puts the reader in control.
— Publishers Weekly -
Books by Oliver Jeffers
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Media About Oliver Jeffers
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Featured Title
A Day Off School
July 7, 2026
A hilarious story from the #1 New York Times bestselling creator Oliver Jeffers, about what incredible things you might miss if you take the day off school
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