ANNA OLSON

Judge, “Great Chocolate Showdown”

Anna Olson is a judge on The CW’s new baking competition series “Great Chocolate Showdown.” Olson is celebrated as Canada’s baking sweetheart and has become a household name. She has served as the host of Food Network’s “Bake with Anna Olson,” “Inspired with Anna Olson,” “Fresh with Anna Olson” and “Sugar.” She has earned a dedicated following in over 190 countries and can now be watched on the Oh Yum YouTube Channel. Olson is a recipe writing maven and her work appears in many magazines and best-selling cookbooks. Her latest cookbook is called Set for the Holidays.

Olson was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but grew up in Toronto, noting her grandmother as an early influencer of her love of the kitchen. She has degrees from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. After working in the United States, Olson returned to Canada to settle in Niagara’s wine country with her chef husband Michael Olson.

An avid promoter of the local movement, she practices shopping for great local ingredients and works under the motto “what grows together, goes together.” Olson is an ongoing student of food and cooking, now working full time on recipe development, writing and hosting food media online and television. Many local charitable organizations benefit from her ongoing contributions to the community. She enjoys travel, music and eating great meals with her husband.

June 2023