Patrick J. O’Brien is Director of Marketing for FIORE Artisan Olive Oils & Vinegars, an importer and retailer shop founded by his wife Nancy in Bar Harbor Maine in 2009. FIORE has expanded over the past 13 years with two more retail locations in Maine, three tasting bars and over 40 authorized resellers across the US. An evolution in sourcing began 8 years ago resulting in the acquisition of all FIORE seasonal EVOO from small producers with whom Patrick and Nancy have become friends.

Patrick was gifted the course of study at ONAOO by Nancy and over the past nearly three years has attended classes in Imperia, online and achieved the certification as ONAOO’s Professional Taster entirely in his second language, Italian, which is an additional source of pride in this accomplishment.

Being a Professional Olive Oil Taster brings much pride to the FIORE brand and an unprecedented understanding of olive oil to its customers. Patrick leads the company in sourcing and promoting a wide range of extra virgin olive oils through in-store tasting experiences available to all customers.

Hilda is a certified Professional Olive Oil Taster since 2017 and a student with ONAOO since 2014.

She is a passionate home cook and baker always looking for new ways to use extra virgin olive oil in her kitchen.

She has published a Mediterranean cookbook, is a distributor of Olive oil (evirginoliveoils.com), has a food blog with lots of recipes (iwanttocookthat.com) and a YouTube channel (@iwanttocookthat3059).

Since 2017, she’s been a professional olive oil taster for ONAOO. She’s also an olive oil and wine sommelier, a passionate foodie, and an avid traveler. Liana is a former lawyer who has been in the food import business for 12 years.

She started her company, ITALISKO SKONIO GURMANAI Ltd., in Italy, focusing on extra virgin olive oil. She also opened three specialised Italian gourmet stores and an e-commerce store in Lithuania. Ten years ago, she set up the first olive oil school in Lithuania. She also puts on events, courses, tastings, and tasting dinners, as well as promoting olive oil culture.

She represents more than 25 quality olive oil producers from the world’s best ranking in Lithuania. Liana and her company ITALISKO SKONIO GURMANAI Ltd. were absolutely thrilled to be awarded by International olive oil guide Flos Olei as the best Importer in the world of the year 2016!

Berk is a researcher at the World Bank with a PhD in economics.

He has been an ONAOO Professional Taster since 2022. His partner, Sarah Baird, and he have young olive trees in the South Island of New Zealand (Aotearoa) and they hope to produce extra virgin olive oil from their grove.

They live with two dogs and two sheep, love animals, and enjoy plant-based cooking.