Malcolm Walker

Malcolm Conrad Walker was born in Grange Moor, West Yorkshire, the son of a poultry farmer, and was educated at Mirfield Grammar School. He originally co-founded Iceland Foods in 1970 with Peter Hinchcliffe and considered naming it "Penguin"; he credited his first wife with coming up with the Iceland brand name. The company had a national presence by the late 1980s.

Walker was married for over 50 years to Rhianydd, until her death in 2021 and founded the Lady Walker Fund for Dementia in her memory. His Grade II listed family home is near Chester, Cheshire. The couple had three children. Their only son, Richard, is the current managing director of Iceland.

Walker remarried to Natalie in 2022, and they live together on the family estate.

In May 2017, Walker donated £50,000 to the Conservative Party. His knighthood was announced the following month.

In January 2023, Walker was the subject of Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 and chose "Quando me'n vo'" from Puccini's La bohème (sung by Natalie Walker), Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, and a giant cooking pot as his favourite record, book and luxury item respectively.

In 2013, during the horse meat food contamination scandal, Walker attracted criticism for making negative comments about Irish people and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.