Elliott was born on 22 November 1967, the eldest of the three children of prominent businessman and future
Liberal Party treasurer
John Elliott and his wife
Lorraine Elliott, a future Victorian state Liberal parliamentarian. His parents later divorced. He was educated at
Carey Baptist Grammar School,
Kew from 1973 to 1985, and the
University of Melbourne from 1986 to 1988, where he graduated with a
Bachelor of Commerce degree. He then worked in the banking industry in
Toronto and
New York City. He was employed on the personal staff of Liberal politician
Michael Wooldridge in 1990. From 1990 to 1992 he studied at the
University of Oxford, gaining a
Bachelor of Arts in
Philosophy, Politics and Economics. On return to Australia he worked for the clothing retailer
Country Road until 1996. In the meantime he had started presenting a regular finance report on radio
3RRR. In 2014, Elliott was criticised for twice being fooled into thinking he was interviewing people who were later discovered not to be who they claimed to be. In the first instance, Elliott interviewed a person claiming to be
Islamic State military commander
Abu Omar al-Shishani but who was later discovered to be a Kurd living in Scandinavia. In the second incident, Elliott interviewed a person claiming to be Australian rapper
360 but it was later discovered to be another rapper known as BK Ultra. In September 2023, 3AW announced that Elliott will replace
Neil Mitchell as presenter of
Mornings from January 2024
. Jacqui Felgate has been announced to replace Elliott on
Drive. ==Personal life==