Richard Hammond

Richard Mark Hammond is a British TV presenter, most noted for co-hosting car programme Top Gear alongside Jeremy Clarkson and James May, as well as presenting Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky1, Should I Worry About...? on BBC One and Total Wipeout, also on BBC One and Richard Hammond's Blast Lab on CBBC. He has also presented several one-off specials such as ITV's The Gunpowder Plot: Exploding The Legend and the annual Crufts awards.

In 2006, Hammond suffered a life-threatening crash at speeds of over 280mph (ca 450 km/h) in a jet engine powered dragster racing car. He recovered months later and continued his presenting work.

On 22 July 2007, during severe flooding, Hammond left his Porsche 911 - in which he had been stuck in traffic for 13 hours - to run home for his daughter's birthday. He ran 16 miles (26 km) in two-and-a-half hours (from 3am to 5:30 am), arriving home before his daughter woke up.

An interview with The Sunday Times in February 2008 reported Hammond as having moved briefly from Gloucestershire to Buckinghamshire, then back again because he missed the country life.  Hammond is also a keen motorcyclist and Land Rover Defender fan, he spent over 70,000GBP rebuilding his 110 "Buster" in 2008.    In October the Hereford Times confirmed he had splashed out three million pounds buying Bollitree Castle which is situated near Weston under Penyard, Ross on Wye. It has been rumoured he has also bought a large house in the small town of Wantage, Oxfordshire.

On Top Gear in 2007, Hammond went to Africa on an 'Epic Road Trip' across Botswana. While there he found a 1963 Opel Kadett, in which he drove across Botswana. Hammond named it Oliver. On Top Gear a week after the special was aired, Hammond announced during the news, that he had shipped Oliver back to the UK, and restored it. Oliver features on Hammond's children's science television show Richard Hammond's Blast Lab and in another episode of Top Gear as a kind of "Hill-holder" in the trailer truck challenge (after it acquired the personal plate "OLI V3R"). Oliver is also mentioned in Hammond's second autobiography As You Do.