Andi Oliver was born in London, England (1964). Her father served in the RAF, and she spent part of her childhood in Cyprus, where her love of food developed through family cooking and communal meals.

She left school at 16 and began her creative career in music, becoming a vocalist in the post-punk band Rip Rig + Panic alongside her brother Sean Oliver and Neneh Cherry. After the band split in the early 1980s, she transitioned into food and media.

Oliver entered television in the 1990s, co-hosting the Channel 4 show Baadasss TV and later presenting cooking programmes such as Neneh and Andi Dish It Up. She also became a regular contributor to radio and food-related broadcasts.

She joined Great British Menu as a judge in 2017 before becoming its main presenter in 2020 on BBC Two.

Oliver lives in the UK and is the mother of presenter Miquita Oliver. She continues to work in broadcasting, hospitality, and writing.