Olia Hercules was born in Ukraine and lived in Cyprus for 5 years before moving to London to study a BA in Italian language, followed by an MA in Russian and English. A number of jobs followed before her interest in food as an amateur reached its apogee and she decided to retrain as a chef at Leith's School of Food and Wine.

She kicked off her culinary career working at London's Union Market before landing her dream job as a chef-de partie for Ottolenghi's. Olia's focus nowadays is mostly on her son, her writing, her food styling and the occasional foray into film and television.