Rolf Harris Biography
Rolf Harris has a Fine Art background and has exhibited at the Royal Academy.
In 2000 he received an honorary membership from the Royal Society of British Artists, joining a distinguished list that includes Sir Winston Churchill and James McNeil Whistler.
The first series of Rolf on Art, which broadcast on BBC ONE last year, gained the highest viewing figures for a programme on the visual arts ever.
Rolf was formally trained in the UK, attending City and Guilds Arts School at Kennington in the early 1950s.
It was later, however, under the tutelage of Australian Impressionist Hayward Veal, whose techniques had inspired him, that Rolf began to develop his own characteristic, free style.
By applying Veal's approach to working on large surfaces, Rolf soon began making a name for himself on his own television series when he effortlessly produced huge paintings in a short space of time.
In the UK in 1992 he was named the world's most famous artist when he came top of a poll of 1,000 people visiting the London artMart exhibition.
They were asked to name a well known artist - 38% said Rolf Harris, Constable followed with 23% and, as one newspaper put it, Rembrandt and Turner didn't make the frame.
As a vocalist his hits have included Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport, Sun Arise, Two Little Boys and more recently Stairway to Heaven.
On television he has presented The Rolf Harris Show on BBC Television, Cartoon Time and HTV's immensely popular Rolf's Cartoon Club which ran for six series.
In 1995 Rolf began presenting Animal Hospital on BBC ONE. The show attracts a large audience and won the National Television Awards Most Popular Factual Entertainment Show in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2000.
Spin off series have included Animal Hospital Down Under and Animal Hospital from Oz, screened to coincide with the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Rolf also presented Rolf's Amazing World of Animals for BBC ONE.
He has been awarded both the MBE and OBE and is a Member of the Order of Australia.
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