Margo Oliver

Margo Oliver, a legendary figure in the cooking world, had a successful career spanning over 50 years. She worked for General Mills and became Canada's first Betty Crocker representative. Oliver wrote columns and cookbooks, creating over 10,000 recipes. She retired in 1982 and lived in Fergus, Ontario with her husband. One of her notable achievements was a cookbook for seniors. Hello everyone! Welcome or welcome back to my Food for Thought podcast where I talk about anything and everything food-related. I'm your host, Arianna, and without further ado, let's jump right into today's topic. Our star of the day is very intriguing as we are talking about the one and only Margo Oliver. Oliver was a legend in the cooking world and someone who many have looked up to for cooking advice and recipes for over 50 years. This woman had an incredible career in the cooking industry and eventually earned herself a spot in the Hall of Fame of the Ontario Home Economists in Business. Alright, I am getting a bit ahead of myself here. Let's take it back a couple decades. We don't know Margo's exact birth date, but we do know she was born in 1923, which would make her 100 years old today. Unfortunately, she did pass away in 2010 at the age of 87, but she did live an incredible life and left behind such an amazing legacy. So, who is Margo Oliver? Well, she was a very private woman, so not much is known about her personal life, but we do know that she went to the University of Manitoba for none other than Home Economics. She even took a graduate year at the University of Minneapolis for Home Economics. So, safe to say she was very well-versed in the world of cooking. After studying, she went straight into work. Oliver stayed in Minneapolis with the first job of her career being at none other than the General Mills Food Company. More specifically, she worked in the Betty Crocker Home Services Department. After the company expanded into Canada, Oliver was chosen as the country's first Betty Crocker representative. For the four years that she was Betty Crocker, she traveled and appeared on many radio and TV shows and spoke to many groups giving cooking demonstrations. After her time with General Mills, it was time to move on and sort of spread her wings in the cooking world. In 1959, she joined the Weekend Magazine Company as a food editor. For 23 years, Oliver wrote columns for the company, as well as several cookbooks that we'll get into a bit later. At the company, Oliver had her very own professional test kitchen made where she would create and test every single recipe from her columns and cookbooks. Over those 23 years, Oliver had created over, get this, 10,000 recipes and over 10 cookbooks, which is absolutely insane to think about. But in the end, in 1982, she finally decided it was time to retire with her husband, Victor. They lived out the rest of their days in a beautiful town called Fergus, Ontario. As I mentioned earlier, Margot Oliver had an extensive list of cookbooks under her belt. With over 10 completed books, it's safe to say that Oliver also had an amazing list of recipes. The variety in her work appealed to so many people from all walks of life. In my opinion, one of her best ideas was her cookbook for seniors.