Chris Wolfe is the Executive Producer of This Old House Productions. In 2002, he helped launch the This Old House spin-off series Ask This Old House. He served as the show’s producer for 12 years, working with a team of expert contractors to solve hundreds of home improvement questions from viewers across the country. He now oversees all of the production of This Old House and Ask This Old House and has served as an executive producer for many other series and specials including Team Rubicon, Dime Cómo Hacerlo, Idea House: Mountain Modern, and The House that Norm Built. He has earned three Emmy awards.
“As a kid, I would sit down to watch This Old House with a big glass of milk and a sleeve of Oreo’s,” remembers Chris. “So it’s really hard to believe that now, as an adult, I get to work every day with the same group of guys—it really is my dream job. Sometimes, when I’m driving the Ask This Old House truck and trailer with Kevin, Tommy, Richard, or Roger, I notice other drivers craning their necks, trying to get a better view of the guys. And then there’s usually a moment when I see the other driver’s expression change as they think to themselves, ‘I wonder who the other guy is…’”
Chris earned his stripes the old-fashioned way—by doing the hard work alongside the experts. As Kevin O’Connor has recalled, each new team member goes through a kind of “boot camp” with the cast. Kevin himself described a similar experience: “Richard, you know, made me dig ditches for sewer lines and Tommy and I, you know, had to cut lumber… There’s a job to do. Get to it. And that’s all I wanted. Like, put me to work.” That same hands-on, no-shortcuts ethos is what drives every member of the TOH crew, Chris included.
Chris’s connection to the show runs deep—he’s part of the multi-generational legacy that defines This Old House. The Generation Next program, which launched in 2017, created opportunities for apprentices to come work alongside the cast on the show, giving young tradespeople like Chris a pathway into the TOH family.
After earning a degree in economics from Cornell University and working for several years as a management consultant, Chris moved to Boston with a detailed plan to “do something more creative.” He assisted with many television programs and commercials and was an associate producer for the groundbreaking PBS first-person documentary series “Right Here, Right Now.” Chris later joined the Educational Programming department at WGBH Boston. While at WGBH, he learned about the plan to produce an exciting new addition to This Old House and eagerly applied for a position. As they say, the rest is history, and he has since become an integral part of the success of This Old House Productions.
Chris’s deep connection to the show extends beyond the studio. When he and his wife, Kate, moved into their 1937 Colonial Revival in Arlington, Massachusetts, their experience with TOH directly shaped their own renovation plans. “One of Chris’s first projects for TOH TV had Shaker cabinets, painted a soft green,” Kate recalls. “We both said, ‘Wow, we love this kitchen!'” The couple eventually overhauled their dated 1970s kitchen — complete with brick-veneer walls and beige vinyl flooring — bringing in designer Ingrid Nuñez to realize the vision inspired by Chris’s years behind the scenes.
