Anna Olson who is known as Canada’s sweetheart born in Atlanta, Georgia. Growing up in Toronto, from an early age she started noting her grandmother as an influencer of her love of the kitchen. She is now Hosting Food Network’s Bake with Anna Olson and Fresh with Anna Olson, she has earned a good number of loyal followers in over 190 nations. A specialist in creating new recipes with her own secret ingredients has landed her appearances in magazines and cookbooks. Anna Olson has written seven best-selling cookbooks herself.
Anna Olson initially trained in the world of savory cooking but has equally self competed her abilities in the pastry kitchen and has worked as a professional pastry chef since mid ‘90s. She has made her appearance for the biggest Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) and has shared some of her tips and tricks for her followers in Qatar.
The team of TIQ had an amazing opportunity to sit down with Anna Olson to get some insights to her journey to success and what she will be presenting at the Qatar International Food Festival.
Question: Difficulties faced in the past?
My goal was never to be a celebrity; I speak to students a lot in teenagers and even younger career paths. One of the things I point out is that fame or celebrity shouldn’t be a goal because that’s out of your control but your credibility is, so for me, my growth has always been focused on ‘ what do I need to do to be the best version of myself in doing what I do’ so choosing the schools, choosing the work experiences and if I ever had an employee I wasn’t pleased with I would just simply cut ties and move on there is no need to go through challenging work environment since there’s so many restaurants you can work at . But yes, celebrity is assigned to you by other people and its taken away by other people. 
One of my hardest lessons in the culinary field to get my head wrapped around is that success comes from failures, when I’m developing recipes in the kitchen whether for my new season of bake or cook book project. If something comes out well the first time I don’t learn anything from it but if I’m trying something and I’m challenging myself and pushing the boundaries and it comes out horribly, I learn more from that and so its by making the mistakes that the best recipe I can possibly make happens and so it’s a bit of a good little ego check but you have to learn to accept that failure to learn from it. So that’s probably the most valuable lesson that’s taken a little time but I’m comfortably at home with it.
Question: How many dishes have you created from scratch and are there any favorites??
I mean well over a thousand and when I write a cookbook I don’t repeat recipes. That’s so hard to choose, it really is but I love fresh fruits so back at home in Canada the fruits follow a definite season so strawberries are best in June, peaches are best in august and apples are best in October so we are just waiting for rhubarb.
Question: What’s going on at QIFF?
I will prepare a savory recipe, so I’m making a tandoori style salmon burger, following day current tea scones with a special technique and lastly I’m making a home-made pop tarts which will be nicely decorated!!
Question: What does the future hold?
Had a few bakeries, which I sold because I love focusing my time and attention on recipe development and television and web project. I love traveling as it’s always a priority for me and ultimately you know what if the whole public profile starts to diminish I would love to do nothing but to teach at a culinary school.
If you missed out on her amazing recipes at the QIFF, Don’t worry catch up with all her tips and tricks on the Food Network!
