Jamie Oliver has become a qualified pilot.

The 51-year-old chef feels proud to have earned his wings after a year of the "hardest" training, which included nine tough exams.

Jamie took to Instagram on Thursday (02.07.26) and posted a series of shots of himself during the 12-month course, including flying a plane.

The restaurateur's caption read: "I'm very proud and excited to share that I've qualified as a pilot."

Jamie fell "deeply in love with aviation" after his 51-year-old wife, Jools, gifted him a "first discovery flight" for his birthday.

He added: "After a year of training I finally passed ..it's certainly been one of the hardest, most wonderful and inspiring things I have ever done!

"It has challenged me in so many ways and stretched me as a person. (sic)"

The cookbook author went on to thank everyone who helped him on his journey to becoming a pilot.

Jamie wrote: "A huge thank you to Mick Pitcher @mickypitch1, what a man, salt of the earth and the best teacher I could have dreamed of.

"Thank you to Blondie @captainblondy your a true star, big love Mike and Carol at @andrewsfieldaviation, what a wonderful country airfield and what a community.

"Thank you to chef Tony and the great team at @norwichaviationcentre where I passed through on my cross country solo, and big love to the guys at @conington_aviation. (sic)"

The Naked Chef alum has obtained a Private Pilot Licence (PPL), which allows Jamie to fly single-engine aircraft for personal and recreational use.

According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority, PPL's are earned after 45 hours of flight training, completing practical skills test, and passing nine theoretical knowledge exams.

However, the exams were particularly challenging for the star because he is dyslexic - a learning difficulty that affects reading and writing skills.

Jamie continued in his caption: "I had to do 9 exams for my PPL this was very Daunting for me as a DYSLEXIC so A big thank you to Seb at @pooleysaviationacademy and @pooleysflightequipment for allowing me to get the digital files of my Pooleys books, I was then able to load them into @naturalreaderapp and pass all my aviation exams and with flying colours!!. (Natural reader would have made such a difference to young me at school!)

"Big love to Gary at @aircornwall for letting me fly around the silly isles of Cornwall, joy joy joy, and to Koos at @morningstar_flight_academy flying around Table Mountain in South Africa was breathtaking.

"A special thank you to @lindawheelergroundschool she's such great visual teaching. Not to mention the guys at @easypplgroundschool…. (sic)"

Jamie concluded by saying how "invigorated" he has felt since entering his 50s "to take on something so challenging".

Jamie added: "And although the exams were hard, I did it. I'm buzzing I'm on cloud nine, inspired, proud of myself and so grateful to have met so many wonderful people along the way.

"Now the learning really starts. Let's see how this inspires my cooking.

"Love Jamie xx (sic)."