Olivia is passionate about the innovation and commercialisation of science. She brings a range of experience from food system engineering, food allergenicity, novel food regulation and science commercialisation.

She earned a PhD from The University of Auckland in 2020. Her work added much needed knowledge to the field of celiac disease; it used proteomics to identify the peptides that activate celiac disease. Her thesis was placed on the Dean's List, placing her in the top 5% of Auckland University PhD graduates. Her Postdoctoral Fellowship is on cellular agriculture with a specific focus on cultured meat. While supervising a number of technical cell-ag projects, she is looking at the policy and regulatory environment of cultured meat in an Aotearoa New Zealand and international context; her Fellowship is aligned with the Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor.

She is involved in research commercialisation and investment through her role as an Iraoho-Analyst at Matū Fund — an investment fund that specialises in active deep-tech investment. She is also an inaugural committee member of Canterbury Momentum.