By Taz Adamjee
Anna Olson is a professionally trained pastry chef and currently serves as the celebrated host of Fresh with Anna Olson on Food Network Canada. She is also the author of six best-selling cookbooks. I had the privilege of chatting with Anna on life, following your dreams, and the ability of muffins to change the course of your life.
Although it may be difficult to picture Anna doing anything other than cooking professionally, she admits it took some time to figure out she could make a career of it. What started out as an after school hobby inspired by her grandmother, Anna could have never predicted that baking would change the direction of her professional career.
After graduating from Queen’s University, Anna entered the world of banking. While she continued to find her place in the world of nine to five, she soon realized she didn’t belong in the industry - working the stock market, Anna often found herself running away to the farmer’s market. It took some time, but eventually she opened her eyes and made the switch. After a frustrating day at the office, she found herself baking muffins at three in the morning; the light bulb was brighter than ever – Anna had her epiphany. It’s easy to fall in a comfort zone; many find security and decide to push their dreams to the side. Not Anna though, and clearly it has paid off.
“Once you’re hooked, you’re hooked,” says Anna.
Shortly after, Anna enrolled at the College of Culinary Arts: A satellite campus program designed for students with an undergraduate degree. Twelve months later, Anna was waiting tables and working restaurants. She went on to work in Vail and New Orleans before returning to Canada to work at the acclaimed restaurant Inn on the Twenty in Niagara as a Pastry Chef.
The transition to Food television was never on her radar. About ten years into the industry, Anna decided to follow-up with a job opportunity. Six weeks after submitting her resume, she was asked to come in for a screen test. The rest, as we all know, is history.
Currently, Anna is working on an initiative with Philadelphia Cream Cheese. The campaign, entitled the Real Women of Philadelphia, is based online and consists of a competition that last eight weeks. It invites Canadian women, who cook every day, with the opportunity to submit their own cooking video. The competition holds four themes: appetizers, entrees, side dishes, and desserts. Each week, two women will be selected from the corresponding theme. At the end, the 16 women will win a trip to Toronto for an ultimate cook off. The cook off will decide four winners, who will be crowned the Real Women of Philadelphia, earning $20 000 in the process. The contest closes June 5, 2011.
As an avid fan of Philadelphia, Anna has served as the mentor of the campaign and helped carry conversation surrounding it. For more information, you can visit www.realwomenofphiladelphia.ca for complete details about the Real Women of Philadelphia program.
Look out for a number of exciting projects from Anna. These include an Olson recipe generator, and her next cookbook to be released autumn 2011.