Vale Steve Milton

The Australian olive industry has recently said a sad goodbye to a much-respected member, with the passing of WA grower and industry leader Steve Milton in January following a tragic accident on his farm.

The President of the WA Olive Council (WAOC), Steve also chaired the WAOC Board and had a long and active history with WA’s South West Olive Association (SWOA).

Steve entered the industry in the late 1990s, when he and his wife Janine diversified their cattle property by planting olive trees. Both teachers, they had spent the late 1970s and the 1980s on various postings in the WA Wheatbelt and south-west, before purchasing their farm near Wright’s Bridge, south-west of Balingup, in 1989.

What had originally been a sideline became a passion and for more than 20 years Steve and Janine nurtured their small grove and proudly produced high quality local olive products. They specialised in table olives, along with a small amount of olive oil.

Active and proactive

The AOA’s WA Director, Mick Ryan, said Steve had been active for and within the industry throughout his time as a grower.

“Steve was passionate about his table olives and about the industry. He was in the SWOA from the beginning, and more recently President of that association, then joined the board of WAOC,” Ryan said.

“He became President of WAOC about five years ago and has been the driving force of the organisation since.

“He was very proactive, and was particularly focussed on increasing the Council’s relevance to both members and the industry, as well as growing its place in the Australian industry.

“He was also aware of the importance of marketing and was trying to facilitate getting the state’s smaller growers organised in some way. He knew how difficult it was to get your products out there, and was driving for a more collaborative approach.

“Steve put a lot of time and energy into both of the olive organisations as President, and his passion and energy will be sorely missed by the WA olive industry.”

Easy-going judge

Steve was also an olive judge, starting with the now-discontinued SWOA competition and then moving to the WAOC-run WA Olive Awards in Perth.

WA Olive Awards Chief Judge Isabelle Okis worked with him over a number of years and said he was an asset to the judging team, both professionally and personally.

“Steve was a really nice, easy-going bloke and he was very good at judging,” she said.

“He was very fair, and the judging review panel was always made up of Steve and myself. While we didn’t always agree - sometimes quite strongly - he never held grudges.

“And nothing was any trouble for him - he’d drive three hours just for a quick meeting and a coffee.

“He loved his cakes too. When we had judges’ training I’d do the food and he had to try every cake, every time.

“Steve was totally passionate about his family, his farm, his olives and his cows. He was just a very nice bloke, and he’s going to be sadly missed.”

Steve Milton was farewelled at a celebration of his life in early February, which clearly reflected the affection and esteem in which Steve was held.

Despite 42C temperatures and raging bushfires across WA, there was a great turnout of family, friends and colleagues, who gathered to say goodbye to the passionate nice bloke who believed that “whisky and coffee fixes everything”.

The Australian Olive Association joins the Western Australian Olive Council and members of the WA olive industry in acknowledging and celebrating Steve’s life and work, and extends our most sincere sympathies to his family and friends for their loss.

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