Anna Tomcik Olson was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Her parents, Donna and Andy Tomcik, immigrated to Toronto where she grew up. Olson's grandparents came from Slovakia. Olson earned a degree in political science and sociology from Queen's University in Kingston. She also worked for a time in a bank in downtown Toronto. During her lunch breaks, Olson wandered the St. Lawrence Market searching for different ingredients and inspiration for her next dinner party. Olson recalls that she was baking a banana muffin one night after being unable to sleep when she had a "muffin epiphany" and decided to pursue a culinary career. Olson then enrolled in the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. Upon her graduation from the university, Olson traveled across the United States. She would eventually find her way to Niagara Falls. Olson was a pastry chef at Inn on the Twenty in Jordan, Ontario for seven years, where she met her husband, chef Michael Olson.