Iolo Tudur Williams (/ˈjɒloʊ/; Welsh pronunciation:['jɔlɔ]; born 22 August 1962) is a Welshornithologist, nature observer, television presenter and author, best known for his BBC and S4C nature programmes, working in both English and his first language of Welsh. After a 14-year career with the RSPB, in 1999 Williams became a full-time TV presenter. He has written a number of books about the natural world.
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.[1]
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.[1]
In 2007 he presented Canals of Wales with Iolo Williams, a five-part series looking at the canals of Wales.[2] In 2008 he presented another series focusing on the Welsh landscape, Iolo's Natural History of Wales.[3]
Williams presented Rugged Wales, which aired on BBC Two on 13 and 20 March 2012. In 2013 he presented Iolo's Great Welsh Parks,[4] and 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, then a third series on great Welsh parks. He continued to showcase Welsh wildlife by presenting Iolo's Snowdonia in 2018.[5] The same year saw him travel to Australia to film Wonders of the Great Barrier Reef.[6]
In 2019 Williams became a regular presenter on Winterwatch, Springwatch and Autumnwatch on BBC Two. In 2020 he presented Iolo: The Last Wilderness of Wales, about the wildlife of the Cambrian Mountains.[7] In 2021 he presented a four-part personal view of the natural world of Pembrokeshire in Iolo's Pembrokeshire.[8] In 2023, the BBC aired Iolo's Borderlands, a four-episode series presented by Williams about the wildlife of the Welsh Marches.[9]
Williams and his wife Ceri live near the town of Newtown, Powys.[13] The couple have two sons (Dewi and Tomos);[1] and had two rescue dogs, Ianto and Gwen, who have both appeared in some of his television series.[14]
Known for frequently wearing shorts for his work, he has, as a result, become a Welsh cult gay icon.[13]
Williams and his wife have built a fully-insulated timber-framed home. 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 2011 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.[14]