Candice Olson did not initially intend to be a designer when she graduated from high school. She enrolled at the University of Calgary to work on a Bachelor of Science degree. Candice, who is six feet tall, participated as a member of the Canadian National Volleyball team and she attended world-wide competitions as well as going to university.
Candice Olson’s Career in Interior Design
Candice was always good at art so she chose it as her minor degree at the University of Calgary. After graduating from university, she applied and was accepted at the School of Interior Design at Ryerson University in Toronto. Upon graduation, Candice worked at several of Canada’s top design firms and then in 1994, established her own commercial and residential company named Candice Olson Design.
Candice Olson’s Television Career
By the early 1990’s, Candice established a good reputation in the Toronto interior design world. The producers of a Toronto-based morning show CityLine offered her a spot as a regular guest on their program. She appeared on the show for nine years demonstrating her talent in interior design.
This soon led to her own show Divine Design with Candice Olson which debuted in the fall of 2002 on Women’s Television Network in Canada. The following year, Divine Design was picked up in the U.S. by the Home and Garden Network.
Candice solves design dilemmas by opening her show with a talk with the clients. She asks them their problems, their needs and their preferences. The audience is then shown a sketch of the redecorated room. Reconstruction and design is done with Candice’s crew of regulars: Paul Daly (carpenter), Chico Garcia (electrician), Edmond Joseph (seamster), Terry Edward Briceland (seamster) Andrew Downward (painter) and Lorne Hogan (contractor). At the end of the show, the clients are wowed by the big reveal.
Candice Olson’s Accomplishments
In addition to her popular TV show Divine Design, Candice has written a book "Candice Olson on Design," which features in-depth material on rooms she has redecorated on her TV show.
Candice is the contributing design editor to Home Magazine. She also writes weekly newspaper columns for the Scripps-Howard News Service which owns 400 newspapers in North America.
She has two DVDs. The first one is on Kitchen and Bathroom design. The second one is called “Divine Design” which features four hour-long episodes on renovations plus a bonus feature of behind the scenes with Candice Olson and bloopers.
Candice has now launched her own line of home décor products which are available from various manufacturers. She has a table line with Revco International, wallpaper with York Wall Coverings, fabrics with Kravet, lights with AF Lighting and carpeting with Hellenic Rugs. She also has her own brand of upholstered furniture with Norwalk and with The Furniture Idea.
In addition to her professional life, Candice Olson is a busy mother of two children. Her show is contracted till 2009 and it is hoped that audiences will continue to hear the words “How Divine!” at the end of each show.
Related HGTV Home Decoration Articles:
Holmes on Homes Makes it Right
Canadian Designer Sarah Richardson
Sources
- HGTV
- Women’s Television Network
- East Valley Tribune - Christina Vanoverbeke March 15, 2007
- Washington Post – Jeff Turrentine May 19, 2005
- Wikipedia – Candice Olson & Divine Design
Maureen K. Fleury - Maureen joined Suite101 in March 1999 as a Contributing Editor and worked her way up as a Managing Editor and Senior Managing Editor. In ...
