Actor

Iolo Williams

Born 1962 · Builth Wells, Breconshire, Wales, United Kingdom

Iolo Williams is a Welsh naturalist, conservationist and campaigner. Born in Builth Wells, Breconshire, in the heart of rural Wales, his family moved to Pembrokeshire in the west of the country, before moving to Montgomeryshire, when he was aged five, to live in Llanwddyn. Iolo went on to study London, England for a degree in ecology at North East London Polytechnic. After graduating he went on to work for the RSPB for almost 15 years as Species Officer for Wales, a job he loved as he worked with some of the country’s rarest breeding birds. Eventually this brought him to the attention of the media and BBC 2’s "Visions of Snowdonia" and "Birdman" followed Iolo’s work as an RSPB officer. In the late 1990s Iolo left the Society to work full-time in the media. His series, in both Welsh and English, concentrated on the wildlife of Wales and the world and he co-presented several network series such as Nature’s Top 40 and Countryfile. In 2019 Iolo became a regular presenter on BBC Television's flagship nature programmes "Winterwatch", "Springwatch" and "Autumnwatch". Iolo has written several books on Welsh wildlife in both English and Welsh and he is a regular contributor to several magazines, including "BBC Wildlife’" Iolo is a keen sportsman, having played rugby for most of his life, and also a qualified paraglider, PADI Divemaster.