Chef Olivier Saintemarie developed an immense passion for pastry and baking at the young age of 11, spending time at his uncle’s bakeries in Paris during the holidays. "I was fascinated with the dough mixing, the different processes, and all the products you could make with simple but quality ingredients," he says.
At 15, Olivier abandoned a conventional path after graduating high school and decided to pursue baking. He completed his apprenticeship at the Pavilion Dauphine in Paris, where he discovered the world of petit fours, plated desserts, chocolate, and sugar work. Following one year in the French Navy overseas, he continued his education, securing his Master's Degree, and participated in competitions, changing positions at every opportunity, Pasteur, Vautier, Flo, JP.Hevin-MOF, and trying to learn as much as possible.
Olivier relocated from Paris to London in 1997 and became the Head Pastry Chef and production lead for Rensow, the main supplier of pastries for Heathrow and Gatwick airports. Always seeking advancement, he returned to the classroom this time seeking a Cambridge certificate in advanced English.
Soon after, he joined the Disney Cruise lines in Venice where they were building their first two ships, Magic and Wonder. He quickly received a promotion to Executive Pastry Chef within only a few short months. In 2003, Olivier followed an opportunity to work in Orlando, Florida in a French bakery while also heading up production for their sister restaurant and several coffee shops, later merging with Douce France Bakery in Winter Garden.
In 2011, Olivier began to share his extensive industry knowledge as an instructor at the Notter School of Pastry Arts, teaching pastry and baking alongside World Champion Chef Ewald Notter. In the summer of 2017, Olivier took part in the national selection for the US Pastry team, winning first place in the chocolate category. He has been recognized as one of the "Top 10 Pastry Chef" in 2017 by Dessert Professional Magazine. He then competed at the Pastry World Cup in Lyon in 2019, part of the US team that finished 4th out of 20 finalists.
Currently, Olivier is the Executive Pastry Chef at the French Pavilion at Epcot, leading the opening of the company's brand new 7,000 sqft bakery and production kitchen in 2013. He oversees his team of 55 and takes care of bread and pastries for "Les Halles" Bakery shop, "Les Chefs de France," the 220-seat brasserie-style restaurant, "Monsieur Paul," the 110-seat fine dining, "L’Artisan des Glaces," the artisan-style ice cream shop, and "La Creperie De Paris".
