I have been involved in olive growing and olive oil production since childhood as part of my family business. We own and operate one of the largest olive farms in Turkey, and I actively take part in the entire production process. My main interests are production, quality control, and sensory analysis.
I currently work as an Agricultural Engineer at our family olive farm and I am also the Chairman of the Board of our family company. My main goal is to produce and sell olives and extra virgin olive oil at the highest possible quality. I have recently registered a brand name and may move toward branding in the future. I also try to regularly practice olive oil tasting and aim to promote olive oil culture through education.
Marco Gandolfi has been a member of the organization since 1991.
He is particularly interested in oil tasting and has been involved in this area since 1992, when he became a Professional Tasting Member. He has been a member of the ONAOO Official Panel since 2004 and today is the Vice Panel Leader.
By participating annually in refresher courses organized by ONAOO, he has had the opportunity to deepen his knowledge and satisfy his curiosity about the vast world of olive oil. Over the years, he has participated as a judge in important national and international competitions.
Marco’s academic credentials—a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Banking, a Master’s degree in Family Mediation, and twenty years of work at a banking institution—did not dissuade him from pursuing a new career path in 2016.
His roots were firmly planted in his family’s olive grove in upper Tuscia (meaning the Viterbese area and generally upper Lazio). From an early age, this location represented leisure, feasting, and conviviality during the harvesting and oil production seasons.
As he matured, he embarked on a new adventure with the goal of emulating his Etruscan ancestors, the first true ambassadors of the culture of olive oil of exceptional quality. He pursued his education primarily through the large family of ONAOO and in March 2022, he graduated as a Professional Taster.
For the past three years, he has been based in Bavaria, where he runs a business offering both advisory services to specialty retailers and restaurateurs and the import and sale of high-quality extra virgin olive oil.
Born in Verona in 1983, he grew up in the Mezzane Valley and considers himself a citizen of the world. In life he is a computer engineer with many years of experience in the field.
Occasional walks among the olive trees help him to relax his body and mind. In 2021 he approaches O.N.A.O. to start a new educational path.
His studies end in March 2024 with an exam that certifies him as an O.N.A.O.O. Professional Taster.
Stig has been Senior Brand Manager at Haugen-Gruppen AS, the largest food import company in Norway.
He has worked in the food sector for more than 25 years, in companies such as Nestlé, Mars, and Haugen-Gruppen AS. He started working with olive oil in 2000 when he joined Haugen-Gruppen as a Key Account Manager. He sold olive oil to the main retail chains in Norway. For 15 years he has been a brand manager in the retail sector.
For 3 years he has been a brand manager in the food service sector. In 2015, he took a technical course for olive oil tasters and started training to become a professional taster. He has participated in international meetings for “ONAOO tasters” since 2017.
He has taken part in many olive harvests and presses in Spain, Italy and Greece in the last 12 years to get to know the different “cultures” of olive oil production (from small producers to large ones) and to understand the differences. He has been teaching Norwegians about olive oil by tasting it with managers of big companies, shop managers, journalists, salespeople, and others. He now runs his own company, Lukt, Smak og Nyt (Smell, Taste and Enjoy), teaching consumers how to select and use extra virgin olive oil.
Agricultural Engineer, graduate of Ege University Faculty of Agriculture (Dairy Technology), currently engaged in olive cultivation and olive oil production.
I successfully completed the sensory training program at ONAOO and passed the official examination in Imperia, Italy, gaining formal qualification in olive oil sensory analysis in 2025. As olive growing and olive oil production are my profession, I wanted to further develop myself and gain deeper knowledge from one of the world’s leading institutions. My aim is to better understand olive oil, to express it correctly through sensory analysis, and to be able to communicate its true value with accuracy and confidence.
Training as professional olive oil tasters is not only a personal pleasure: the universe that revolves around olive oil and its supply chain also offers a wide range of job, growth and specialization opportunities.
The advanced course allows you to consolidate and deepen your knowledge of oil tasting and obtain the qualification of ONAOO Professional Taster, but above all, to be included in the "International Register of Professional Tasters".
Participants learn about varieties, processing, and sensory tasting, with practical exercises under the guidance of experts.
Participants are invited to recognize strengths, weaknesses, qualities and organoleptic characteristics of the various oils