Although he was an American, Richard Olney, who has died aged 72 , was one of the foremost writers on French food and wine - his Simple French Food is a culinary classic - who corresponded regularly with Elizabeth David and entertained the writer James Baldwin and the underground film-maker Kenneth Anger at his home in Provence.
Born in Marathon, Iowa, Olney was educated at Iowa University and the Brooklyn Museum Art School in New York. In 1951 he moved to Paris, intent on pursuing a career as a painter. His early years there were predictably "bohemian". At the same time he was exploring food and wine, and astonished the editorial team of Cuisine et Vins de France by the extent of his knowledge while on a tour of the Bordelais vineyards. He corrected them on their ideas about the traditions of French cooking, quoting Escoffier to prove his points. He began writing for the journal in 1962 under the heading of Un Américan (gourmand) à Paris, each time presenting a menu with accompanying wines.
A year earlier, he had bought a rugged hillside above the village of Solliès-Toucas, complete with a ruined shack without electricity or sanitation: this was to become Richard's home. Over several years he worked, slowly, as funds permitted, to make it habitable, labouring with the local masons, carpenters and plumbers. He restored the ancient terraces on the slope above and made a large garden. Later he and his brothers Byron and James hewed out a wine cellar beneath the rock.
A piece in the Sunday Times magazine introduced Richard to British readers in the mid 1960s. At about the same time he started the Lubéron College in Avignon, giving courses on cooking and on wine.
He taught the essentials, the techniques of classic cooking, knowing that once understood they gave the cook great personal freedom. The French Menu Cookbook appeared in 1970, with menus for different seasons and occasions, and wines to accompany them. The recipes are detailed and precise; he encouraged readers to regard them as blueprints which could be varied with different garnishes or flavourings. His masterpiece, Simple French Food followed in 1974, one of the half dozen books that should be on every kitchen shelf. Its title is deceptive: simple to Richard never meant fast or easy but was the sign of perfection. The book reinforces the message that once the basic rules have been mastered, they can be adapted, even broken.
His painter's eye illuminated his perception of food and his writing, and his drawings adorned his books. From 1977-1982 he edited the 27-volume series, The Good Cook, for Time-Life - by far the most intelligent cookery course ever published - which made his name familiar to a huge readership, especially in the United States. There followed scholarly, elegant books on two of France's greatest wines: Yquem (1985) and Romanée-Conti (1991). In between came Ten Vineyard Lunches (1988), later Provence the Beautiful Cookbook (1993) and Lulu's Provençal Table (1994). His last book, a memoir entitled Reflections, will be published later this year.
Richard lived a solitary, orderly life. He disliked leaving his hillside, but friends were always welcome; he was generous, thoughtful, forever hospitable. He did not drive, had no radio or TV, and wrote on an ancient typewriter. He couldn't be bothered with a computer, but he had long installed a fax on which he wrote regularly to his four brothers and two sisters in the US, to friends and to most of France's greatest winemakers and restaurateurs.
He was admired and respected by the French gastronomic community. In Britain's rather different gastronomic climate, his growing intolerance of things sham or pretentious gave him the label of "difficult".
The kitchen, the central part of his house, is dominated by a large fireplace built by Richard, again with Byron's help; copper pans hang on the walls, an armoire faces the door, shelves are filled with earthenware and books, a rough-tiled counter with a stone sink fronts the long window. Here he lived and entertained in bad weather; the rest of the year meals were taken out of doors on a vine-covered terrace, lit at night by a row of coloured lights. Richard's excellent palate, good taste and fastidiousness always ensured his guests a harmonious meal.