Hall of Fame Award (Posthumous) | 2012

Born in Winnipeg in 1923, Margo Oliver was a well-known food editor, cookbook author, and employee of General Mills. She earned a degree in home economics from the University of Manitoba in 1950 and then relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota for graduate work. There, she began working with General Mills in the Betty Crocker Kitchens. When General Mills expanded into Canada, she was appointed the country’s first Betty Crocker spokesperson. In this role, she travelled across Canada, educating cooks on various radio and television programs. She wrote seven cookbooks, including Margo Oliver’s Weekend Magazine Cookbook (1967), which was a bestseller. The cookbook included her most beloved recipes that she compiled while working as a food editor for Weekend Magazine. Several of her articles and clippings from Weekend Magazine were donated to Archival & Special Collections in 2007 (XM1 MS A146). Among her many achievements, Oliver will be remembered as the face of Betty Crocker and for sharing comforting and delicious recipes that used quality ingredients.

Oliver, Margo. Margo Oliver’s Weekend Magazine Cookbook. Montréal: The Montreal Standard Publishing Company Limited, 1967. Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph Library (UA s072b11).