Mike Wolfe biography, net worth, married, wife, age, children, bio, divorce

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Mike Wolfe is known as a reality TV star and antique collector. He is most famous for being is the creator and star of American Pickers, a hit TV show that airs on the History Channel.

<h2>Background</h2>

Mike Wolfe was born on June 11, 1964, in Joliet, Illinois. Mike is the eldest <a href="/biography/mike-wolfe">child</a> in his family of three children. He has a brother named Robbie and a young sister named Beth. Growing up, he was always interested in finding treasure in the junkyards. He grew up in Bettendorf, Iowa, just down the river from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeClaire,_Iowa">LeClaire</a>, and began collecting items at age 6, “I found a bicycle in the garbage, and I sold it in two days for $5, I was hooked.”

His family didn’t have much money since his mother was single and had to raise three children on her own. Because of his family’s financial troubles, Wolfe learned to barter his picks for things he wanted, like his first motorcycle, “I traded a guy a pair of stereo speakers for it.”

<h2>Career</h2>

Mike Wolfe always had fun as a forager. Together with Frank Fritz, he traveled from coast to coast and visited more than 200 American cities to search for antiques and vintage items. He would sell his discoveries in his own shop called Antique Archaeology, located in Le Claire Iowa.

Mike eventually got tired of searching for items in Iowa, “I’m sitting in the bicycle shop going and asking ‘What am I doing here, man? I need to be on the road. So I closed the shop, bought a cargo van and hit the back roads. I was a full-on hobo, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kerouac">Jack Kerouac</a> of junk.”

Mike began to make his name as a professional treasure hunter, road-tripping across the country in search of what he called "rusty gold" to buy and sell in his Antique Archaeology stores. Located in Le Claire, Iowa, and Nashville, Tennessee, the stores featured vintage and antique treasures Mike picked up on the road as well as official merchandise associated with his Antique Archaeology brand.

At the suggestion of a friend, Wolfe bought a video camera and began filming his trips. Sometimes his friend Frank Fritz came along. Wolfe thought their adventures would make great TV because “antiques are all about the story, the treasure hunt, pickers are in the trenches finding this stuff.”

He had spent years trying to pitch his show to networks but no one was interested. His big break came when the History Channel offered him a reality TV show so that they could document his daily responsibility and activities at his store.

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American Pickers became a popular antique show and among the highest rated on the History Channel. The series started in on January 18, 2010, and it attracted over 3 million viewers for its premiere episode. It was the highest-rated History channel debut since Ice Road Truckers in 2007. It attracted a large number of fans around the world and many of them flocked to his shop in the middle of Iowa. He had a large list of the clients that started with photographers, collectors, and art directors. His list of clients eventually grew to include musicians, celebrities and interior designers.

The September 8, 2010 episode of American Pickers called “Laurel & Hardy" garnered ratings as high as 5.3 million viewers in the 25–54 age group.

His Antique Archaeology shop was a converted garage in an alley that once functioned as his man cave and warehouse. Mike described the humble beginnings of his shop, “In the beginning, we didn’t even own a cash register”

Ms. Colby who greets customers at the front of the store describes them as “people that develop a crush on the lifestyle and the cool stuff we find and get sucked into Mike’s fantasy world.” The store is a curious hybrid of retail operation and also serves as an American Pickers museum.

<h2>Other Ventures</h2>

Mike Wolfe has been able to expand his empire to specialize in specific niches. He owns a company called Rustoration where he restores and also resells old light fixtures. He also started an online forum called Kid Pickers. In the forum, children share stories and the things that they find when they search through collections.

Mike has written two books and they were published under Macmillan. The books are Kid Pickers: How to Turn Junk Into Treasure and American Pickers’ Guide to Picking.

Mike's financial success has allowed him to expand his reach as a humanitarian. He routinely hosts events and encourages fundraising projects that benefit St. Jude's Children's Hospital, Operation Smile, the ASCPA, and animal shelters.

A longtime music lover with a special affinity for Americana and old school country, he co-produced an album called Music to Pick By which was a mix of picking-compatible tunes compiled by legendary Nashville <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Ahern_(producer)">producer</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Ahern_(producer)">Brian Ahern</a>. The record featured three new songs composed and recorded by Mike and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Watson_(singer)">country singer</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Watson_(singer)">Dale Watson</a>.

Wolfe has a net worth that it is over 7 million and he is a serious <a href="/biography/mike-wolfe">person</a> when it comes to working at his craft.

<h2>Relationships</h2>

Mike Wolfe is married to his wife, Jodi Faeth. The couple got married in 2012, after dating in a long relationship for over 17 years. They spent their honeymoon in Hawaii. They have one child, a daughter named Charlie who was born before the marriage. He resides in Iowa together with his wife and the daughter.

His wife <a href="http://www.antiquearchaeology.com/blog/the-glow-at-home-with-jodi-charlie/">Jodi described how it felt to have a child as a middle aged woman</a>, “I think I was more scared to become a mother again at 41 then when I had my son 24 years ago. The first time I was so young, but I also didn’t know any better. I didn’t research strollers, cribs, schools, etc. back then. I keep reminding myself that my son turned out just fine and the most important thing I did with him and I will continue to do with Charlie is spending time with them without a phone, iPad or other distractions.

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