Iolo Williams

Iolo Tudur Williams (; ; born 22 August 1962) is a Welsh nature observer and television presenter, best known for his BBC and S4C nature shows, working in both English and his first language of Welsh.
Biography.
The son of a headmaster school teacher, Williams was born in Builth Wells, Breconshire, but his family moved to Pembrokeshire, before moving to Montgomeryshire 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 North East London Polytechnic (NELP)—now the University of East London—graduating with a degree in ecology.
Career.
After graduation, Williams 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 led to his making regular appearances in the media, making a name for himself as a leading expert on Welsh bird life.
He's also visited many schools and encouraged younger people.
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 programmes on S4C, in his first language of Welsh, made by independent TV company Telesgop.
In 2007 he presented 'Canals of Wales with Iolo Williams', which was a five part series looking at the canals of Wales. In 2008 he presented another series focusing on the Welsh landscape, titled Iolo's Natural History of Wales, which aired in 2008.
Williams presented "Rugged Wales", which aired on BBC Two on 13 and 20 March 2012. In 2013 he presented the first series of Great Welsh Parks. In 2015 he presented a second series of the programme. He continued to present series for the BBC which focused on his native Wales, presenting 'The Brecon Beacons' in 2016, before presenting a third series of Great Welsh Parks. He continued to showcase Welsh wildlife by presenting Iolo's Snowdonia in 2018. 2018 also saw him travel to Australia to film 'Wonders of the Great Barrier Reef', which saw him cement his place as one the BBC's key natural history presenters.
In 2019 Williams became a regular presenter on "Winterwatch", "Springwatch" and "Autumnwatch" on BBC Two. In 2020 he presented The Last Wilderness of Wales.
Awards.
In 2007, Williams was awarded an honorary fellowship of the Bangor University. He received further honorary fellowships from Aberystwyth University in 2015 and the University of South Wales in 2017.
Personal life.
Williams and his wife Ceri live near the town of Newtown, Powys. The couple have two sons (Dewi and Tomos); and had two rescue dogs, Ianto and Gwen, who have both appeared in some of his television series.
Known for frequently wearing shorts for his work, he has, as a result, become a Welsh cult gay icon.
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. As a result of this, in a World Wide Fund for Nature survey of carbon footprints of ecology personalities, Williams and his family were found to have a low rating of 1.81, compared to a Welsh average of 3.0.