Chef Joel Olson, of Hemmachef, is a popular Madison-based, nationally-recognized culinary instructor with over 25 years of experience teaching cooking skills and conducting culinary events. Chef Joel uses his sense of humor and passion for cooking to inspire and actively involve his students of all ages and levels of ability, interest, and experience. Chef Joel’s classes cover a wide spectrum of culinary topics and are completely hands-on, with full, challenging menus. Chef Joel also enjoys presenting and conducting culinary events ranging from corporate team-building and professional events to children’s birthday parties and in-home dinner parties.
Chef Joel currently teaches at multiple venues in the Madison area, including Orange Tree Imports, vomFASS’s DelecTabe, the Stoughton Area Youth Center, and more. He has appeared on numerous TV and radio programs, as well as in print media, and is currently the Culinary Director for the Eat This! TV series “At Home with Christy Rost,” filmed in Breckinridge, CO. He is also the Director of Culinary Programs for the McLean Community Center in VA and an honors graduate of L’Academie de Cuisine. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Chef Joel is a proud Wisconsin native and an avid sportsman. He has combined his love of hunting and fishing and his classical culinary training into expertise in the gourmet preparation of wild game. He hosts an annual Game Feed in Madison each fall. Chef Joel currently resides in Madison, WI, with his wife, Laura Flinchbaugh, his teenage daughter, his Black Labrador Retriever, and several chickens.