Born in Italy, Olga Mattiassi (nee Bruno) migrated to Australia in 1951 with her husband Albino and ten month old daughter Loredana. In 1953 they opened their first shop. After buying their first home they also built a shop from which they sold fruit, vegetables and ice cream.

Then in 1970 they built a shopping arcade at St Morris. From this was born the idea of making their own Gelato (Italian style ice cream), an enterprise so successful as to necessitate the building (in 1978) of a Gelato factory. This factory was to be the home of Alba Gelati, the largest and most modern of its type in South Australia.

'We sacrificed the best years of our youth in Australia, far from our families and friends. We worked very hard. Where ever necessary we were prepared to commit ourselves to the hardest jobs and adapt ourselves to the difficult activities to ultimately achieve success.'

A lover of literature and poetry, and a member of the Fellowship of Australian Writers, Olga has written three books 'Away From Barbed Wire', 'Here We Are' and 'We Live Worlds Apart'.