On finishing school O'Donoghue was employed at a restaurant at Rottnest Island for the summer as a kitchen hand.
[citation needed] In 1996 O'Donoghue travelled to the United Kingdom where he worked at The River Café before moving to become Head Chef at the Monte's Club in Knightsbridge with Jamie Oliver.
O'Donoghue has also worked with Oliver as a consultant food stylist as well as assisting him with various outside catering functions, including cooking for Tony Blair and the Italian Prime Minister.
[3] O'Donoghue appeared in two episodes of Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef, before making the first show of his own in Morocco, for American Television.
In June 2009, O'Donoghue took part in a "Celebrity Chef Challenge" on Masterchef Australia, in which he was beaten by contestant Lucas Parsons, cooking a seared kangaroo loin with creamed corn.