Olivia Harper

Olivia Harper grew up in a modest farmhouse on the outskirts of Dayton, Ohio, where the kitchen was the family’s unofficial living room. Her mother, a former schoolteacher turned home‑cook, taught her to measure flour with a coffee scoop and to listen for the “sizzle” that told a dish was ready, not the timer. The scent of simmering tomato sauce on a rainy Thursday afternoon and the clatter of mismatched plates at Sunday brunch are still vivid markers of her childhood, shaping a palate that values both comfort and surprise.

After a brief stint in corporate finance, Olivia left the boardroom for a culinary apprenticeship in New Orleans, where she fell in love with the idea that food is a conversation between generations. She spent two years under the tutelage of a Creole chef who insisted that a dish must have "a story you can taste." The experience taught her to honor tradition while daring to remix it—think biscuits topped with kimchi gravy or mac and cheese infused with smoked paprika. This duality of reverence and rebellion now defines her signature style on MyMomDishes.

Today, Olivia runs MyMomDishes from a converted barn kitchen, where she curates more than 200 recipes that feel like a warm hug from a loved one. She says the driving force behind her work is simple: to create dishes that bridge the gap between nostalgia and novelty, reminding busy Americans that a good meal can be both a memory and a fresh discovery. Her relentless curiosity and devotion to family‑centric cooking keep her kitchen buzzing with new ideas, every day.