Olivia O’Brien

Olivia O’Brien is Business Development Director at Growing Underground, London’s first underground farm.

Growing Underground is a subterranean farm 100ft under  Clapham, London in disused WW2 air raid bomb shelter tunnels. Utilising redundant spaces, Growing Underground produce leafy greens, herbs, micro-greens and mushrooms, grown using sophisticated LED lights and a hydroponics system powered by renewable energy.

The system uses 70% less water versus traditional open-field farming methods and the year round production negates seasonality, the necessity to import produce while drastically reducing food miles for retailers and consumers. Additionally all of their crops are free from pesticides.

Olivia joined Growing Underground in March 2016. Since then she has managed all areas of the business and has helped steer its strategic trajectory through various stages of growth with a focus on Operations, Sales and Technical Compliance.

She is currently leading its Business Development, driving forward new sales and partnership opportunities, and working alongside the CEO in investor relations and engagement.

Join Olivia at our  Women in Food Tech panel where she will share her journey and you can learn more about Growing Underground’s work in helping to reduce London’s carbon footprint.  Get your tickets here.