Mehmet Oz Biography

Mehmet Cengiz Öz was born on June 11, 1960 in Cleveland, USA, into a Turkish immigrant family. His father, Mustafa Oz, was a thoracic surgeon while his mother, Suna née Atabay, was a physician. Apart from Mehmet, the couple had two daughters, Seval and Nazlim Öz.

During a visit to Turkey when he was nine years old, Mehmet saw a magazine photo-essay about the first twelve people who had received heart transplants in the world and was aghast to learn that none of them survived.  At that moment, he decided that he wanted to become a heart surgeon.

Educated at Tower Hill School in Delaware, he later entered Harvard University with biology, eventually earning his undergraduate degree with magna cum laude in 1982.  Equally interested in extracurricular activities, he was also a member of the water polo and football team at Harvard.

On graduating from Harvard, he simultaneously entered the Perelman School of Medicine and the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, becoming first its class president and then the student body president.  Sometime now, he also received Captain's Athletic Award for his leadership quality.

In 1986, he earned his M.D. degree from Perelman School of Medicine and M.B.A. from Wharton Business School. Sometime in the same decade, he also served in the Turkish Army to maintain his dual citizenship of the United States and Turkey.

In 1986, Mehmet Oz was hired by Eric A. Rose, the first cardiothoracic surgeon to perform a successful pediatric heart transplant.  Under him, Oz conducted his residency in general surgery from 1986 to 1990 and his residency cardiothoracic surgery from 1991 till 1993, both at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York.

In 1993, on finishing his residency, Oz became an attending surgeon at the Presbyterian Hospital. An advocate of alternative medicine, he began to incorporate non-Western treatments like hypnosis, meditation, acupuncture, etc into his practice; but had to abandon the idea due to objection from higher authorities.

In April 1995, he cofounded the Cardiac Complementary Care Center with his colleague, Jerry Whitworth. Their intention was to provide various types of alternative medicines to heart disease patients along with traditional surgical operations. Concurrently, he also started publishing numerous research articles.

In 1996, he along with Eric A. Rose received extensive media coverage for successfully carrying out heart transplant for Frank Torre.  While Oz loved the attention he got, it also led to a strained relationship with Whitworth.

In 1999, he published his first book, Healing from the Heart: A Leading Surgeon Combines Eastern and Western Traditions to Create the Medicine of the Future. It would be followed by twelve more, out of which eight reached New York Times bestseller list.

In 2000, Whitworth left the Cardiac Complementary Care Center. In the same year, Oz established the Cardiovascular Institute and Integrative Medicine Program at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital and was appointed its director.

In 2001, he was appointed a professor of Surgery at the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University.  While there, he helped to develop many devices and procedures related to heart surgery, including the MitraClip and the left ventricular assist device (LVAD), holding number of patents by 2015.

Also in 2001, he debuted on television, appearing as himself in The U.S. Border Patrol/The Pump/Kuwait: Ten Years Later episode of 60 Minutes, a television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. It would be followed in 2003-2004 by Second Opinion with Dr. Oz and in 2005 by You: The Owner's Manual.

In 2005, he co-published The Owner's Manual: An Insider's Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger, with Michael F. Roizen. Known for its engaging text as well as its humor, the book led to his appearance in 9 episodes of The Oprah Winfrey Show from 2006 to 2011.

Meanwhile, he also started taking interest in politics, actively participating in the local chapter of the Republican Party of New Jersey by 2007. During this period, he identified himself as a "moderate Republican", citing Arnold Schwarzenegger and Theodore Roosevelt as inspirations

In 2009, he started The Dr. Oz Show, which would run for thirteen long seasons. Next in 2010, he co-founded Sharecare, Inc, with Jeff Arnold. It is an Atlanta-based digital health and wellness company that provides consumers with personalized health-related information, programs, and resources.

In 2015, a group of doctors demanded that Columbia University should remove him from the faculty for his alleged "disdain for science and for evidence-based medicine". However, the university defended him and he continued to teach till 2018, thereafter holding the title of professor emeritus.

All along, he continued to appear in various television shows including Jeopardy! The Oprah Winfrey Show , Larry King Live, Good Morning America, The View,  Entertainment Tonight, Fox & Friends, Rachael Ray, Today, NY Med, Extra with Billy Bush etc. His last major television appearance is in Hannity (13 episodes; 2020-2021).

In May 2018, he was appointed to the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition, serving in this position till March 2022. Meanwhile in 2021, he announced his candidature for a U.S. Senate seat from Pennsylvania, ending The Dr. Oz Show in January 2022 to focus on his political career.

In June 2022 he was elected the Republican nominee from Pennsylvania.  He lost the general election to Democratic nominee John Fetterman in November 2022.

A well-known cardiothoracic surgeon and author, Dr. Oz is equally known for his daytime talk show, The Dr. Oz Show. Co-produced with Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions, it ran from September 14, 2009 to January 14, 2022 over a period of 13 seasons and 1881 episodes, winning several awards and nominations.

From 2010 till 2018, Dr. Oz has received nine Daytime Emmy Awards for his The Dr. Oz Show, winning five of them in the Outstanding Talk Show Informative category and four in the Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host category.

On February 11, 2022, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

On June 29, 1985, Mehmet Oz married Lisa Lemole, now a reputed author and television personality. The couple has four children; three daughters named Daphne Nur Oz, Zoe Yasemin Oz, and Arabella Sezen Oz, and a son called Oliver Mustafa Oz. Among them, Daphne grew up to be a well-known television host, and food writer.