Rageh Omaar, one of the most recognised TV foreign correspondents in the country, is International Affairs Editor of ITV News in the UK, which has a regular daily audience of 8 million people. He has one of the biggest international profiles of British TV journalists, having been a prominent reporter and presenter for the BBC and Al Jazeera English, where his eyewitness reports and feature length documentaries have been shown in over 180 countries.
Omaar has covered some of the biggest international stories of the last 15 years from the Balkan Wars, to the impeachment of President Clinton, the invasion of Afghanistan, to the Arab Spring Uprisings. However he came to national and international prominence when he led BBC television’s coverage of the Iraq Invasion from Baghdad in 2003. His reports were syndicated across the USA. His eyewitness dispatches on the fall of Baghdad were the most watched dispatches from Iraq in the UK and led to numerous international awards for their coverage.
In 2006 Omaar became one of the most prominent signings for the launch of Al Jazeera English. He presented a daily documentary strand, Witness and The Rageh Omaar Report which were watched by millions especially across Africa and the Middle East where his already established international profile on the BBC was strengthened.
He has written often and widely for the main UK newspapers including The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times, The Guardian and The Daily Mail. He is also an author, having written two books, published by Penguin; Revolution Day, the human stories behind the Iraq War, and “Only Half of Me, being a Muslim in Britain”.
Omaar is also a well established host and speaker at many national and international events for such clients as Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, The Department of Health, Middle East Financial Awards ceremony in Bahrain, The Economist Emerging Markets awards and many others, both here in the UK as well as in Europe, South East Asia and The Middle East. Africa’s emerging economic profile and potential, particularly in oil and gas is a subject close to his heart with strong family connections in East Africa. He was asked to chair and host a meeting of global division leaders for the Norwegian Oil company DNV GL in Oslo to speak about Africa as a new oil and gas frontier.
In addition to politics, global events and news, media & television, Omaar is also happy to share the realities of his life as a modern day war reporter whilst also enjoying cooking, gardening and watching his two sons play local Sunday league football!
