Jason Leech

Jason Leech is a historian by training but self confessed 'jack of all trades with a career in none', known outside academic circles for his appearance as a candidate in Series 9 of the UK Apprentice.
Family
Jason was born in Athens and grew up in its northern suburbs and in London's Chelsea to parents with strands of Greek and English heritage.
Before his father, those on the English 'Leech' side of the family served in the British Army and saw combat in the Great War and Second World War.
His paternal grandmother was choreographer to the Royal Court of Egypt; her sister a known Byzantinist and confidante to many in European high society of that period, most prominently the wife of Eleftherios Venizelos. Extended Greek families being what they are, he is also related to Domini Crosfield (great aunt), dazzling and influential socialite known for her extravagant parties at Witanhurst, as well as George Horton (great uncle), US Consul General at Smyrna when the Turkish Army sacked the city in 1922.
His maternal Greek side were once landowners and timber-merchants from the environs of Volos in mainland Greece and from what is now Albania. At one point, they employed the itinerant painter Theophilos as a farm hand. All are now medical professionals.
Education
Jason attended local Bousfield Primary School before going on to Elliott School in Putney. Both were state comprehensives in the truest sense.
Jason read Ancient and Modern History at Wadham College, Oxford (2001-4) which he concluded with a thesis on the process through which the College became co-residential in 1974.
During his undergraduate years at Oxford, he served on the Standing Committee of the Oxford University Historical Society, as a Mentor in the National Mentoring Pilot Project, as President of Oxford Romance (in its heyday, the largest student society after OUSU with over 1,000 active members) and as Treasurer of the Wadham College Student Union, managing a budget of c.£40,000 where, in the course of a few months, he proposed measures to reduce wastage by more than £2,000/annum, lowered students’ photocopying charges and began a scheme whereby College students could buy books at any Blackwell’s shop in Oxford with a discount of 15%. He resigned in the midst of a political coup after winning a vote of no confidence against him by a wide margin.
He then went on to specialise in modern Greek history at King's College London where he completed an MA with distinction (2006-7) in the then Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies and is currently pursuing a PhD (part-time) entitled 'Elusive Wounds: The "Italian" in the retrospective discourse of the Greek Government during the peace settlement (1944-1947)'.
He has given papers relating to his research at symposia at the London School of Economics, the Istituto Nazionale per la Storia del Movimento di Liberazione in Italia in Naples, and the 4th European Congress of the European Society of Modern Greek Studies in Granada, Spain, as well as more informally in London and Cambridge.
Occupation
Jason claimed in his Apprentice audition that he has 'many fingers in many pies and as many talents as has fingers' even though he has never been formally employed.
Historical research aside, he is perennially engaged in bespoke projects, both remunerative and voluntary, private and public. He is forever getting involved in campaigns which support education in its broadest sense.
The Janus Society
The Janus Society (www.janus-society.org.uk) is the main vehicle through which Jason works. It evolved from the Janus Library: the anagrammatic successor to the student welfare book scheme he set us as SU Treasurer at Wadham set up in January 2003.
It became notable in 2004 when Jason made a bold stand against the tide of bookshop closures blighting Oxford after the Classics Bookshop announced that they too would leave their site at 3 Turl Street which had been a bookshop for over a century. The lease was transferred to high-end stationers, Scriptum, in 2006.
The Janus Society bookshop was a contemporary of the QI Club, a spin-off from the BBC2 series hosted by Stephen Fry. Vague talks of synergy were overtaken by events.
The Criticos Prize
Since 2008, he has served as Assistant Co-ordinator for the Criticos Prize (www.criticosprize.org), a £10,000 literary prize which seeks to foster Anglo-Hellenic cultural exchange and which is awarded annually to to the author(s) of an original work, written in (or translated into) English and inspired by Greece or Greek exploits, culture or history at any time from the ancient past to the present day.
The fight for Elliott School's playing fields
Over the summer of 2012, when Wandsworth Borough Council decided, after decades of neglect, to demolish parts of Grade II-listed Elliott School in Putney and sell five acres of its playing fields to fund its refurbishment, he joined Ed Lattimore and other former students and teachers in mounting a concerted campaign to Save Elliott School for the sake of national heritage, education and sport in an Olympic year.

He played critical role in research, public relations and overall strategy, writing a briefing pack to provide an overview of the campaign's case and a report exposing the deceptive press statements released by Wandsworth Council.
He fed copy and photos or gave interviews to BBC and ITV News at 6 and 10, BBC Radio 2 (Jeremy Vine Show, Drivetime with Simon Mayo), the BBC News online, London’s Biggest Conversation 97.3FM with James Max and a broad swathe of the UK local press and national dailies, including the Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and London Evening Standard.
He delivered speeches at Wandsworth Council's Finance and Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutinee Committee and even got involved in a harangue on website Conservatime Home.
Property Entrepreneur
On the Apprentice, Jason is described as a 'property entrepreneur', having submitted a business plan in this sector. He has never formally worked in the sector but has carried joint or sole responsibility in buying, selling, letting and managing residential and commercial properties in London, Oxford and Athens with an overall value of several £million for his family’s benefit, including the project-management of six-figure refurbishment projects.

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