Languages Champions

Olivia Stratton – Short Biography

Olivia Stratton has studied and worked throughout the world with people from over 100 countries. Olivia has attained international qualifications, including a Masters Degree in Gastronomy (her chosen thesis topic: Organic Food and Agriculture), Le Cordon Bleu (cooking), Swiss Hotel Association (management) www.aseh.ch and a Diploma in Linguistics (German).

Olivia has represented her State and Australia many times. Her roles have included: 2002-05 ‘SA Great State’ Ambassador for South Australia, 2003 Miss Australia and her Year of Service in 2004 as an Ambassador for Australia, 2003 Miss World – People’s Choice; winning in China in front of over 2.8 billion viewers, 2004 Ambassador for Variety International www.varietychildrenscharity.org, as well as representing other charities and in 2006 she was voted ‘Hottest on TV’ in Australia. Additionally she has represented an international company promoting Australian food, wine and tourism in Asia and won several National and State champion titles in Equestrian.

Olivia has worked as a television presenter in the following roles: 2004 – guest presenter on ‘Bon Voyage’; an international travel show in Asia; 2006 – hosted ‘Sumptuous’, Network 7’s lifestyle series for the best food, wine and travel; 2007 – hosted webcast for 2007 Australian Fashion Week http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Fashion_Week, interviewing all the celebrities.

Olivia Stratton – Quotes

Being multilingual has opened up many career avenues for me around the globe within my chosen areas of food, wine, tourism and fashion. I found learning another language at a young age particularly valuable; it has made it much easier for me to pick up other languages subsequently.

Language is a means of cultural translation; it opens us to the world and each other. My international qualifications and life long passions pivot on culture - encompassing food, drink, travel and fashion.

At a young age I studied Japanese, I learnt all the Hiragana characters. I also particularly loved all that we discovered along with the language - Japan's history, arts, food and what I remember back then as being big, heavy dresses (the beautiful kimono)! In retrospect, this was most likely the seed that led me to have such a great passion for culture and travel, launching me to where I am today.

My current goal is to learn French, to coincide with my Le Cordon Bleu culinary training and TV presenting ... one of my dreams is to go to France and present a documentary throughout the various regions, looking specifically at local produce, traditional dishes and wine varietals. To be fluent in French will provide much more depth in my communication, as words can have several meanings and interpretations in different languages and cultures.