Olia Hercules (born 1984) is a London-based Ukrainian chef, food writer and food stylist. In response to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...

she initiated a programme of fundraising, for individuals and for

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...

Early life

Olia Hercules was born in Southern Ukraine in 1984, and spent her early childhood in the town of

Kakhovka Kakhovka ( uk, Кахо́вка, ) is a port city on the Dnieper River in Kakhovka Raion, Kherson Oblast, of southern Ukraine. It hosts the administration of the Kakhovka urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. It had a population of It ...

. She is of

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and Bessarabian ( Moldovan) origin. Her father is an entrepreneur and her mother a hotel manager. She moved to

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

at the age of 12 where the climate was deemed better for her asthma and went to an English school. She settled in the United Kingdom at the age of 18 to study international relations and Italian at

Warwick University , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (2020� ...

before getting masters in Russian language and culture. Beside her native Russian, she also speaks English, Italian and some Ukrainian.

Work

Hercules began working as a film journalist but amidst the 2008 economic crisis decided to change careers. Olia Hercules began working as a chef after completing a course at Leith's School of Food and Wine in 2010. She was then a food stylist for various publications, after which she went on to work at London restaurant Ottolenghi's as a chef-de-partie (line cook). Hercules has appeared on ''

Saturday Kitchen ''Saturday Kitchen Live'' is a British cookery programme, that is broadcast live on BBC One every Saturday between 10.00am and 11.30am produced by Cactus TV. History 2002–2003 After a pilot hosted by Ainsley Harriott on 14 April 2001, the ...

'', ''

Sunday Brunch ''Sunday Brunch'' is a British television programme presented by Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer. It is broadcast live on Channel 4 on Sunday mornings and features cookery and interviews with celebrity guests. Format The programme began on 25 ...

,'' and Christopher Kimball's Milk Street Television.

Books

She has written the recipe book ''Mamushka'' which is a collection of Eastern European recipes. 2017 saw Hercules' second book published. * ''Mamushka: Recipes From Ukraine & Beyond '' (Octopus Publishing, 2015) * ''Kaukasis: The Cookbook – A Journey Through the Wild East'' (Octopus Publishing, 2017) * ''Summer Kitchens Inside Ukraine's Hidden Places of Cooking and Sanctuary'' (Weldon Owen, July 14, 2020) * ''Home Food'' (Bloomsbury Publishing, 7 July 2022)

Activism

In response to the

, Hercules raised money to privately send bullet-proof vests to civilian volunteers in the

Ukrainian army The Ukrainian Ground Forces ( uk, Сухопу́тні військá Збрóйних сил Украї́ни), also known as the Ukrainian Army, are the land forces of Ukraine and one of the five branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They w ...

, including her brother. With her friend, the Russian chef Alissa Timoshkina, the duo established the #CookForUkraine social media initiative, encouraging businesses and individuals to raise money for UNICEF by cooking Ukrainian cuisine.

Awards

* ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' Rising Star in Food 2015 * Winner of

Fortnum & Mason Fortnum & Mason (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an upmarket department store in Piccadilly, London, with additional stores at The Royal Exchange, St Pancras railway station, Heathrow Airport in London and K11 Musea In Hong ...

's Debut Food Book Award 2016

Personal life

She married a Greek-Cypriot man in her early twenties and kept his last name ‘Hercules’. She then had a son with fellow chef Tom Catley and is now married to food photographer Joe Woodhouse. The couple have two sons. They live in London.

References

External links

Olia Hercules website

Recipe collection on BBC Food

Olia Hercule's ''Guardian profile''
1984 births Living people Food writers The Guardian journalists Ukrainian chefs Ukrainian people of Russian descent Ukrainian expatriates in England Ukrainian women writers {{Chef-bio-stub