British broadcaster and writer, James O’Brien (b. 1972), was adopted as a baby.

James O’Brien was 28 days old when he was adopted by journalist Jim O’Brien and his wife. He was educated at a catholic school before going on to major in Philosophy & Economics at the London School of Economics.

He has been a presenter on LBC since 2002 and has hosted the Full Disclosure Podcast since 2019.

He has also written 3 books – Loathe Thy Neighbour (2015), How To Be Right … in a World Gone Wrong (2018) and How They Broke Britain (2023).

Described by the New Statesman as ‘the conscience of liberal Britain’, O’Brien said in an interview with Huw Spanner in 2018 - when asked if his outlook on life has been influenced by his being adopted - that he has …

“… always had this other me in the back of my mind, the less lucky me. I’ve always felt so lucky and loved, but I was always aware, by dint of being adopted, that in an alternative universe there is an unlucky, unloved me. And as I’ve got older, and become a parent myself, perhaps my politics has been directed a little bit more at that unlucky, unloved me.”