Mark Oldman

Mark Oldman (born Mark Stanford Oldman, January 5, 1969) is an American entrepreneur and wine writer. He is the wine expert for Pottery Barn, and wine columnist for the Food Network. Oldman was called the "ideal mix of wine connoisseur, showman, and everyday dude" by Publishers Weekly and his approach was described as "wine speak without the geek" by Bon Appétit. He has twice won the Georges Duboeuf Best Wine Book of the Year Award.

Oldman received his B.A. and M.A. in English from Stanford University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He also received a J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he won the Hilmer Oehlmann, Jr. Prize for excellence in writing. Oldman serves or has served on five major boards of Stanford, including its top governing body, the Stanford University Board of Trustees. He was previously chairman of the Special Committee on Investment Responsibility of the Stanford University Board of Trustees and is currently chairman of the STARS Volunteer Leadership Assembly, Stanford's premier volunteer recognition event.

In autumn of 2016, Oldman will release How to Drink Like a Billionaire, published by Regan Arts/Phaidon Global. Publishers Lunch reported that five publishers vied for the publishing rights to Oldman's next book.

In 2010, Oldman released Oldman’s Brave New World of Wine, published by W.W. Norton, which discusses newly available wines, including the wine picks of oenophiles such as Jodie Foster, Hilary Swank, Antonio Banderas, John Lithgow, and Guy Fieri.

Oldman's Brave New World of Wine won the 2011 Georges Duboeuf Best New Wine Book of the Year Award. Mediabistro.com wrote of Oldman's book deal with Norton.

In 2005 Oldman wrote Oldman’s Guide to Outsmarting Wine, published by Penguin Books and winner of the Georges Duboeuf Best Wine Book Award. It is currently in its tenth printing.

Oldman was lead judge in the PBS television series The Winemakers, filmed in Paso Robles wine country in California.

Oldman delivered the keynote address at the Boston Wine Expo, and appears regularly at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival, the Food Network New York City Wine and Food Festival, and the Aspen Food and Wine Classic. He also writes the wine column for the Food Network, and the Austin Food & Wine Festival. He contributes to several lifestyle magazines, and has written a wine column and chooses the wine picks for the magazine Every Day with Rachael Ray. He is a regular on Martha Stewart Radio's "Living Today" program on Sirius Satellite Radio. He is also the wine expert for Pottery Barn stores.

In 2011 Oldman appeared in New York criminal court to successfully contest an open container summons that he received for carrying an empty Bordeaux wine bottle. In 2012 he announced his practice of a "Bring Your Own Truffle" ritual, introduced to counter restaurant truffle pricing.

He regularly hosts “Wine for Billionaires” tastings at his large loft in Manhattan, which is known as the “Wine Sanctuary.” The custom events have attracted a wide range of business leaders, celebrities, sports figures, and art mavens. Robert Mondavi Winery recently kicked off its 50th Anniversary Celebration with a wine tasting dinner at Oldman’s Wine Sanctuary.

In 1997 Oldman and his friend Samer Hamadeh founded Vault.com, a website that provides career information by industry and by Fortune 1000 company, as well as rankings of companies and firms. He served as president of Vault.com until its sale in 2007 to a private equity firm. Along with cofounders H.S. “Sam” Hamadeh and Samer Hamadeh, Oldman won Crain’s Top Entrepreneur's Award, the Harvard Business School Club’s Entrepreneur of the Year, and the Silicon Valley 100: The Internet's 100 Most Influential Executives.

Oldman is an investor and advisor to Samer Hamadeh's health website Zeel.