Founders

My parents are farmers and so I know how much hard work goes into producing the food we all eat, and absolutely *hate* throwing it away! Fast forward to 2014, I was moving country and the removal men said I had to bin our food – I couldn’t do it and that was the light bulb moment when OLIO was born.

Growing up, to make ends meet, my mother was a scavenger, and I her assistant, helping her to rescue and resell everything, from plants to toilets. As a result giving things of value a second chance is part of my DNA.

Team

I’m an environmentalist and a software engineer with a strong passion for frontend technologies, statistics and data visualisation. I joined OLIO because I would like to help tackle climate change and the numerous environmental issues we have today. My personal motivation is to prevent more habitat loss and give back as much land to nature as possible. As part of the Food hero team I’m delighted to support all the wonderful people who volunteer for OLIO and embark on this meaningful journey with us.

Growing up in southern Italy, I was fortunate enough to have access to a food system that is local and sustainable (although in my lifetime I’ve seen this change!). I care a lot about good food and hate waste, so I am truly beyond excited to be part of OLIO and help businesses to drastically reduce these issues.

The world has sleepwalked into a climate crisis. OLIO’s mission to ‘reinvent consumption’ resonates with everything I believe, from frustration at complacency around environmental impact, to the shame of seeing so much waste in a world where there is such inequity between ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’. I believe we can, and will, make a real difference.

Growing up in Venezuela I was aware that food was not always accessible for everyone. So when I started working at a coffee shop in London I was shocked to discover how much food was being binned daily. I realised the magnitude of the problem when I saw the food wastage statistics. When I found OLIO I was ecstatic to see the issue being addressed by a bunch of amazing people. I am so excited to also be a part of their team now. 🙂

I get immense satisfaction from extracting value out of what others call ‘waste’. From growing lemon and avocado plants from their pits and using coffee grounds as fertilizer, to (not so great) attempts at making furniture from pallets and other wooden bits from the street, I love the challenge of finding a second life for ‘waste’. Earth cannot sustain 8 billion (increasingly wealthier) people at the current consumption levels, so I am thrilled to be working towards reinventing the way we consume and be part of the solution.

I always knew I wanted to work for an environmental cause but after so long worrying about what exactly I wanted to do, I finally realised that the answer wasn’t even on my doorstep – it was closer than that! The majority of food waste happens right within our homes. With OLIO, we are making changes with real, tangible environmental impact and also forming an amazing, passionate community.

I have been passionate about reducing food waste since my university days where I wrote my dissertation on food surplus redistribution. My ambition to make the food industry better fuels my determination to grow OLIO.

I have been incredibly passionate about reducing food waste and its impacts from working in various hospitality businesses. I realised the scale of the problem within the hospitality industry and this prompted me to complete my dissertation on out of home consumer food waste whilst studying at University. I am super excited to be a part of the OLIO team and continue the fight against food waste.

There are many people who go to sleep hungry at night, yet food waste is such a huge problem – it doesn’t make sense. Reducing food waste and living a more sustainable lifestyle is something I am passionate about. I am proud to work at OLIO, where I can help drive real change and use my skills to help reduce food waste & save the planet!

At home, I love to cook and find creative ways to reduce waste to a minimum. At work, my legal experience and startup venture opening a coworking kitchen space taught me a great deal about solving problems and overcoming obstacles. I am so pleased to be combining both, and help tackle food waste on a truly global scale.

My fondest food memories are of going to restaurants as a family of 9. We ate what we liked, and afterwards there was this great plate ballet as leftovers were swapped until every morsel was eaten. The staff nudged each other and watched, because sharing food even with the people sitting next to you is unusual. We should change that.

I’ve always been interested in technology and the way that it can be used to help people and bring moments of delight. From teaching my nan how to email, to becoming a designer and creating experiences that help enrich people’s lives, I’ve always believed that technology can be a force for good. OLIO is a brilliant example of that, using tech in a simple way (sharing excess food) to solve a huge problem (food waste) and I’m incredibly proud to be a part of that.

OLIO gave me the opportunity of helping reduce food waste by working with a group of passionate, talented and compassionate people to build an amazing product. It’s great to work in a company trying to make the world a better place and bring a bit of much-needed positivity!

Having grown up in the countryside, food sharing amongst neighbours was always natural to me, and I hope we can bring it back in local communities all over the world (with the help of OLIO).

I am a front-end developer specialising in Javascript/React and passionate about all things that improve user experience. We’ve been trying to move to living more sustainably and have been using Olio for a few years now to reduce waste; it was particularly helpful when we recently moved house. It’s really exciting to get to work on a team with not only a great mission but on a product I use all the time! I love food and enjoy growing my own fruit and veggies, with varying levels of success depending on if the cats have decided to dig them up or not.

The climate and biodiversity crisis is an existential threat, and to mitigate it we absolutely need to tackle the food waste issue (amongst others), and I’m glad OLIO is taking that on. I’m proud to be part of this team and work to help achieve that mission.

I grew up being mindful to not throw any good food away. To this day, this is still hugely important to me personally, to the point where I kind of freak out when food goes to the bin. Joining OLIO, means I get to work amongst a team and community of like-minded people to be part of the solution, a dream come true.

I’ve been striving to live more sustainably for a while now. It really shocked me to learn that not only is food waste such a huge contributor to global warming but that most food waste comes from the home! It really made me feel like I was a part of the bigger picture and that one small person can make a huge difference.

My father’s family had their origins as farmers in the region of Boyacá in Colombia, In my childhood, I’ve learnt from them to recognize the hard work required to grow our food, so I always hated food waste, and waste in general.  I’ve joined OLIO as I have the opportunity to join both of my passions,  building things, operating at global scale, and helping people by  solving one of the greatest problems of our times.

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t sickened and shocked by the amount of food that gets thrown away. To be able to go from making changes in my own life, to helping others make the same jump with OLIO has been incredible. It’s amazing to see how lots of small actions come together to make a huge difference both socially and environmentally!

It’s impossible to overstate the problem of food waste – from its impact on the planet as a whole to its impact on individuals on a hyper-local basis. The fact that people go hungry whilst uneaten food forces the planet to heat up is something we should all be aware of. I’m immensely proud to be part of the team that is helping bring that awareness to people whilst providing an amazing solution to help fix this for all of our sakes.

Since I was a child, my parents taught me and my siblings how to save energy, water and food. We always tried to find ways not to waste our meals and give away unused items to our community. I am really lucky that I have had this education since I was little and now I am extremely excited that with OLIO I can help millions of people around the world how to be more sustainable, tackle one of the biggest problems our generation is facing and build an amazing community.

Growing up, my mum wouldn’t even let me throw away the bones on my plate. She would first inspect if I’ve eaten everything, and if I hadn’t then she would save it to eat later. I was fortunate enough to be fearful of wasting food, however there is a wider challenge in the real world. My passion drives me to work hard assisting the growth of a company that is demonstrating the most simple and effective solution to cut the curve.

OLIO’s mission is extraordinarily ambitious and utterly essential. It’s no secret that change isn’t happening fast enough. Commercial greenwashing and sustainability lip service are not helping. Society needs leadership. OLIO is a true pioneer in demonstrating how for-profit brands can authentically engage with the existential challenge of our times. Our vision is to build a brand of both scale and meaning — for OLIO to be at the forefront of a movement to retrain our modern impulse to buy and throw away.

I am always looking for ways to live more sustainably. I grow my own vegetables and avoid waste by not buying things I don’t need (tip of the day: make a shopping list before you go to the supermarket). The amazing thing about working at OLIO is that I am now making it easier for people all over the world to reduce waste in their lives too.

I’m originally from South Africa, where food waste is not a big problem, specifically due to the extreme poverty levels. Someone would gladly to take any spare food you may have. I was shocked to see the levels of food waste in the UK and I never realised the scale of the problem. Our world has enough food, we just need to distribute it in a better way.

I LOVE FOOD! But I hate food waste, new things, and toxic materials. At OLIO I now have my dream job – working directly with communities on solving one of the biggest problems which is destroying our beautiful planet! I am an avid and enthusiastic waste warriorsess, chef, seamstress, second-hand nutter, upcycle artist, cyclist, organic food grower and all-round environmentalist.

Writing good code makes me happy! But, using coding to support projects with a positive impact on the world is what I really love. With that, working at OLIO is my dream job. I believe together we can fight against food waste and help people build stronger communities. Off work, I love sailing and building things from reclaimed materials.

I’m a 32-year-old Colombian with 9 years of experience in communications and marketing. I’ve worked as a Spanish proofreader, copywriter, and content manager for companies such as WIEGO, CNN, Uber, Mastercard, and more. I’ve lives in Bogotá with his wife and four pets. I loves to read short stories.

Born and raised in South Africa, I have observed the food challenge that the planet is facing. OLIO’s goal of 1 billion users by 2030 is not too ambitious. I think it could be the difference between humanity’s survival and extinction. I am proud to be a part of that.

We all know that we need to do more safeguard our planet and am SO excited to be part of the team dedicated to changing our relationship with consumption. In my free time, you can find me trying to reduce my personal impact on the world from tending to our balcony wormery or fermenting leftovers (not all successfully!

My food waste journey began as a volunteer in Hackney, where I collected surplus food once a week and redistributed it via the OLIO app. The experience brought me closer to my neighbours and taught me that no good food should ever be thrown away.

My dream is to save the world – one portion of food at a time! Working in hospitality during my student years and disappointed by the amount of food waste that takes place daily, I set up an unofficial food waste project to salvage leftovers and give them to the local homeless. My interest in food waste has continued to grow and I was ecstatic to find OLIO, a wide-scale solution to reducing the amount of food thrown away while building community engagement and having an incredible environmental impact!

Two volunteering trips in Uganda and Colombia helped me truly understand the impact of global warming. Food poverty, animals’ extinctions and land desertification became no longer abstract problems but real tragedies I could touch with my hands. I was thrilled by the opportunity to join OLIO and use my skills and experience to help fight food waste and hopefully save the planet!

My environmentalism & social conscience originally grew out of a concern for animal welfare. As I learned more about diet, waste, economics, my interest broadened. Today I try to live as sustainably as possible; I’m a solar panel owning, electric car driving, vegan. I didn’t set out to be this way, but here I am ?

I’m strongly against food waste and I believe myself – and the rest of the OLIO community – can help change the world’s view on this avoidable problem.

Having spent the last few years becoming ever-more conscious about the damage being done to the planet, I’ve made personal changes to try and help the issue. OLIO first came on my radar during my previous role, when a group of us were trying to find a solution to the amount of food waste that we produced as a company. When I saw an Account Manager role pop up, I jumped at the opportunity; but couldn’t have imagined that I’d be joining a team where everyone is so passionate, friendly and mission-aligned!

I grew up in a small town in The Netherlands, the culture was very much an environmentalist world. I’m so excited for the opportunity to live these values in my work life too. With OLIO I am able to actively contribute to reducing food waste and therefore saving the planet!

We buy much more than we need to, and much of it goes to waste – but not enough of us realise the impact. I’m super energised by the prospect of uncovering people’s consumption and sharing motivations, and using this to understand how we can convince millions more to join the OLIO mission.

During my studies in Germany, I was part of a nationwide network of people who stood up to food waste by sharing food. Surprised something similar didn’t exist in London at the time, I was extremely happy to discover the arrival of OLIO in early 2015.

Starting my programming journey in 2008, I’m a passionate Ruby developer who wants to make a difference. Whether I am working alone on a project, or as part of a larger team, I strive to create a positive environment whilst producing the best possible end product.

I’ve been fortunate enough to live in Germany and Singapore, seeing first-hand how the problem of waste is tackled by two of the world’s leaders in the space. Having dabbled with various ideas in the social enterprise space, I’m tremendously proud to now work for OLIO and have a positive impact on the world and people around me.

Preventing food waste has always been a key issue for me. I signed up as a Food Waste Hero in January 2018 and have been astounded by OLIO’s progress and impact ever since.

Growing up in NZ I have a massive appreciation for nature.I was lucky enough to have most of my fruit and vegetables homegrown. As such it was quite common to have meals that were 100% made from our garden. I have always been passionate about reducing my impact on the planet so being able to work at Olio feels like a fantastic opportunity to help others do the same.

I’m a big believer in technology as a force for good. Joining OLIO has allowed me to put that belief into practice, enabling individuals working together to have a global impact. I live on a smallholding in the Welsh hills, where we grow as much of our own food as possible. I love finding old recipes to make use of every scrap of food and building useful things out of rubbish.

I was so excited to see this position at OLIO come up as I am extremely keen to learn more about the sheer impact food waste is having on our environment. I have seen first hand the crazy amount of food that is wasted from previously working in the hospitality industry so I am proud to now be a part of this mission to reduce food waste globally! It’s amazing to be a part of such a passionate and like-minded team of people here at OLIO.

In the past, I’ve worked in (and run) some of London’s great food trucks and it always pained me to throw food away. I’m super excited to be part of the solution, give food a second chance, and make sure that people can continue to share food safely.

Growing up, food waste was an alien concept to me as my mum taught me the value of reusing food. If it couldn’t be frozen or given to the dog, it had to be eaten. Since then, I’ve had some reality checks working in hospitality, schools across London and a banana farm in Australia. I love living a sustainable lifestyle and eliminating food waste (with the help of OLIO!) is an incredibly important action to help save the planet and reconnect with your community.

I have always been conscious of the problem of food waste and food poverty, so joining the OLIO team was the perfect way to grow professionally, while helping make the world a better place.

I really got into sharing food and other things with neighbours during the COVID pandemic – I was hooked by the magic experience of someone finding use out something I would have otherwise thrown away. It is no secret that our current global consumption model isn’t sustainable and I’m thrilled to be playing a small part in building a more sustainable and equitable future.

My path to OLIO has been all about the waste saving seeds that have grown over the years. Whether it was watching my family using every leftover to now using the OLIO app to share items I bought (but somehow that dish never happened!). It’s a game changer!

I first used OLIO when in culinary school: working in F&B wakes you up to how much food waste there is at every turn, and sharing delicious food makes you a favourite neighbourhood fixture very quickly. It’s wonderful to be working with OLIO now years later with a shared goal of improving food sustainability for the benefit of the environment and community.

I was born in a poor suburb of Zimbabwe with a rich sense of community. I’ve since grown to be very conscious of my privileges, being taught to share and never waste. I’m happy to be at OLIO where I can actively promote these values, help prevent food waste and reduce food poverty. Doing this through tech is also very cool!

I was brought up by very resourceful parents, always opting to scrape the mould off food rather than throw it out and being dressed in hand-me-downs from my older brothers (much to my embarrassment). This attitude has stayed with me, so I was very excited to find out about OLIO and have the chance to work somewhere that puts sustainability and community first. When I’m not tackling waste, you will find me reading, running, cooking and exploring the London bakery scene… I am on a mission to find the best cardamon bun, so watch this space.

We seem to have lost touch with the way we value the food we buy and how we consume it. Despite us evolving to be incredibly resourceful as a species, we’ve forgotten this valuable tool for survival.I’m thrilled to be a part of a team that not only wants to fight food waste but is hell-bent on reinventing human consumption. Together we’re on a mission to design better human behaviours and share the OLIO mindset across the globe.

Having grown up in a tight-knit community, where everything was shared and everyone pitched in to help out, it was a shock to find out that that was rare elsewhere. When I found out about OLIO, it was really exciting to find that other people were also looking to create that sense of community on a broader scale and help the environment in the process. As a huge IT nerd who’s passionate about helping people to use tech more effectively, I’m delighted to get to bring those skills to use for a cause that’s so close to my heart!

Ever since watching a series of documentaries on veganism and regularly seeing coffee shops dump that day’s food onto the street, I’ve been trying to live as sustainably as possible. Working for OLIO is a privilege as I get to help change the tides in a more sustainable direction.

The value of food and the importance of not wasting it have always been a key component of my education as a kid. Being able to actively play a part in tackling this problem whilst building a community of caring and environmental-minded people around me is incredible!

After a diverse professional journey, what makes the most sense to me today is to dedicate my time and energy to solving the eco-social crisis we are facing. I am thrilled to be part of OLIO because it is not only about offering a great solution but also about building a new culture of care. I deeply believe in the power of building resilient communities and being part of OLIO is the best way to do it.

Reducing our environmental impact at home has been something I’ve become very passionate about and using OLIO has been a part of that. I’m so excited to be able to work on something that is making a positive impact in the world and something that I believe in so much. Being able to do it with such lovely people is a bonus!

Waste not, want not” was the mantra in my household growing up. We were always taught to use what we have resourcefully and you will be surprised as to how far things will last! Now having my own little family, those lessons have now come full circle – I consider myself incredibly lucky to live by these same principles both personally and professionally.

In recent years I collaborated with the Food Bank of Mexico, where I learned and appreciated that no one has to go hungry, since food is one of the most important pillars and prevent tons of food from being wasted, generating unfavourable effects on our planet. OLIO I love the idea of going further, where we are a community that will share food without judging you and the best thing is that we help our planet to prevent more food from being wasted when it is fit for consumption. I am happy to be part of such a wonderful and passionate team that thinks about the future of the planet.

I was lucky enough to attend a primary school where my education was very much connected to nature and the changing seasons, we were even taught how to farm! I have therefore always been aware of the time and effort required to produce food and other resources, and have always tried to minimise my environmental impact. I am proud to be part of such a mission-driven team, helping others to reduce their impact too.