Mark Oldman
Mark Stanford Oldman (January 5, 1969) is an American entrepreneur, wine expert, and author of several books on wine. He has been described as "one of the wine world's great populizers" and "one of the wine world's great showmen." He regularly appears at food and wine festivals as well as corporations and institutions, and teaches a course on entrepreneurship for Stanford University. Early life. Oldman was born in the Manhattan borough of New York City, the son of a pediatrician and a psychologist. He was raised in Martinsville, New Jersey. In high school, he served as  president of the National Honor Society and a member of the wrestling team. Oldman received his B.A. and M.A. in English from Stanford University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was initiated into the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He also received a J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he won the Hilmer Oehlmann, Jr. Prize for excellence in writing. He founded and served as president of the Stanford Wine Circle, a popular campus club hosting tastings with California winemakers. Oldman serves or has served on five major boards of Stanford, including its top governing body, the Stanford University Board of  Trustees. Career. Internship Expert. After graduating from college in 1992, Oldman and friend Samer Hamadeh conceived of and co-authored "America's Top 100 Internships", published by the Princeton Review imprint of Random House. The book profiled the internship opportunities at such companies as Intel, Boeing, the "Wall Street Journal", Walt Disney Studios, Rolling Stone, and MTV. In 1994, book made the Boston Globe's best-seller list. In 1995, Oldman and Hamadeh wrote "The Internship Bible", also published by Random House. The book saw 17 editions published between 1995 and 2005. Vault.com. In 1997, Oldman and Hamadeh founded Vault.com , a media company 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 Hamadeh, Oldman won Crain's "Top Entrepreneur's" award and was included on the Silicon Alley 100 list of influential tech executives. Wine and Food Media. Oldman was lead judge in the PBS television series "The Winemakers", filmed in Paso Robles wine country in California. He contributes to several lifestyle magazines, including "Bloomberg", "Departures", "Maxim", "Travel & Leisure", "Inc"., and "Wine  Enthusiast". Oldman wrote a wine column and chose the wine picks for the magazine "Every Day with Rachael Ray". He has been the wine expert for Williams Sonoma, and wine columnist for the Food Network. In 2005, he wrote "Oldman’s Guide to Outsmarting Wine" (Penguin), which is currently in its 11th edition and is published in Japan, Belgium, and in four volumes in France by Editions Solar. The book boils the basics of wine down to 108 concise chapters. It won the Duboeuf Best Wine Book Award for 2005 and was named a finalist for Best Wine Book at  the Le Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards. In 2010, Oldman released "Oldman's Brave New World of Wine" (W.W. Norton), which profiles over 100 lesser-known wine types that are worth exploring. It includes interviews with Hilary Swank, Francis Ford Coppola, Matthew McConaughey, Jodie Foster, Ludacris, Geddy Lee, John Lithgow, and other high-profile wine lovers. It won the Duboeuf Best Wine Book Award for 2010 and was named an Apple iTunes “Best of Book of the Year”. In 2016, he published "How to Drink Like a Billionaire" (Regan Arts/Simon & Schuster), which details insider methods to obtain the  best value bottles and master wine in restaurants, shops, and at home. It won the 2017 IACP Cookbook Award in the Drinks category and the Gourmand World Cookbook Award for World's Best Wine Book. Oldman regularly hosts "Wine for Billionaires" tastings at his home in Manhattan. Robert Mondavi Winery recently kicked off its 50th Anniversary Celebration with a wine tasting dinner at Oldman's Wine Sanctuary. In response to the lockdown of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Oldman in 2020 launched an ongoing series of virtual wine tastings, classes, and winemaker interviews from his Wine Sanctuary in New York. Titled "Mark  Oldman Virtual Wine Tastings," they are frequently subscribed to capacity on Zoom and include such subjects as "Hidden California Wines," "Sparkling Substitutes," and "War of the Celebrity Wines." They have garnered attention from media such as ABC News, the "New York Post", and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Personal. Oldman is a noted art collector, with interests in Walton Ford, William Eggleston, Wayne Thiebaud, Harland Miller, and Vija Celmins. Stanford University named the Graduate Lounge of its Art & Art History building for him.