Olia Hercules


Olia Hercules is a London-based Ukrainian chef, food writer and food stylist.

Early life

Olia Hercules was born in Kakhovka, Ukraine in 1984 to an Armenian family. As well as being Ukrainian, she has Jewish, Bessarabian and Siberian roots. Hercules moved to the UK at age 18 to study Italian and Politics at the University of Warwick. Before earning an MA in Russian Translation, she moved to Cyprus for 5 years.

Work

Olia Hercules began as a chef after completing a course at Leith's School of Food and Wine in 2010. She wrote for Jamie's magazine and was a food stylist for various publications. She then went on to work at the London restaurant, Ottolenghi's as a chef-de-partie. She has appeared on Saturday Kitchen. And now Sunday brunch

Books

She has written the recipe book Mamushka which is a collection of Eastern European recipes. 2017 saw Hercules' second book published.