Phil Harvey

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Harvey was born in Evanston, Illinois, to William Dow Harvey and Lucy Smith Harvey as the youngest of five siblings on April 25, 1938. He attended Harvard College from 1957 and received his bachelor's degree in 1961 in Slavic languages and literature. Between 1960 and 1962, he served in the army and was based at Ft. Meade, Maryland. He then joined the international charity CARE in 1963 to work in India. His five years' work with CARE on large-scale feeding programs for rapidly growing numbers of Indian children convinced Harvey of the importance of family planning and planted the first seeds in his mind of starting an initiative that could address the issue on a global scale. He returned to the U.S. in 1969 and enrolled in the University of North Carolina's master's degree program in family planning administration. One of his classmates was the late Dr. Tim Black, a British physician (who went on to found Marie Stopes International, a large British charity also focused on family planning services). Harvey and Black founded Population Services International in 1970 which today works in almost 70 countries with an annual budget of $684 million (2013). Harvey was executive director of PSI from 1970 to 1977 and remained on the PSI Board until 2003. Harvey co-founded Adam & Eve in 1972 and continued as its president until his death. He also founded DKT International in 1989 and stepped down as its president and chief executive on December 31, 2013. He was executive producer on the 2015 documentary about censorship in comedy, Can We Take a Joke?, and the 2020 free speech documentary about former ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser, Mighty Ira. Harvey died from natural causes in Bethesda, Maryland, on December 2, 2021, at the age of 83.

In Their Own Story

The turning point came when Harvey suggested Coldplay book their own show at Dingwalls after a Camden promoter turned spiteful. The night drew 400 fans who bought out the first 50 copies of 'Safety.' That money paid back his father and roommate, cementing his role as their financier and manager. As global fame hit with 'Parachutes' in 2000, Harvey worked 16-hour days alone, lamenting that he was just 'one bloke in a shithole' while other bands had huge teams. The pressure culminated at the 2001 Brit Awards, his 'lowest point,' leading to his dramatic departure during the recording of 'A Rush of Blood to the Head.' He moved continents to study psychology, but by 2006, he was back in London, visiting the studio to give opinions that became permanent. Coldplay even issued a public appeal via their website to stress that Harvey was part of the lineup as a quintet.

Reader's Guide

Harvey's operational philosophy was unique: it combined altruism with strong business models. Adam & Eve was, and continues to be, one of the largest sex product companies in the world. Harvey's share of profits from it supported DKT International which sells low-priced contraceptives by using business channels that are found in every corner of the world, including in low-resource settings. Special projects, such as those with the military in Ethiopia (which obliges all soldiers to carry condoms when they leave the base), or with local medical practitioners in India who make a small profit selling condoms and pills, extend and supplement this approach and ensure the products are widely available. Harvey realized the potential of mail order when, at the University of North Carolina, he joined forces with Tim Black to begin selling condoms through the mail. Their efforts to expand the range of products led to the evolution of the sex products business. In Harvey's own words, "(w)e tried to get our customers to buy leisure wear, shipbuilding kits, belt buckles, model airplanes, but they just yawned at that stuff. Every time we put something with erotic appeal in the catalog, the bells would ring." Profit from their mail-order business provided the funds to launch Population Services International.

Did You Know?

• Harvey used profits from Adam & Eve to supplement support from international donors to protect millions of poor couples from unwanted pregnancies and HIV infections.
• In 2019, DKT International provided contraceptive protection to 49 million couples.
• Harvey named DKT International in memory of the late Deep Kumar Tyagi, an early pioneer of family planning in India.
• Harvey documented his legal battles in his 2001 book 'The Government vs. Erotica: The Siege of Adam & Eve.'