Elevated Yet Grounded
Restaurant Olivia is a pasta-focused restaurant located in Denver’s Wash Park neighborhood. Olivia is the second project from chef Ty Leon, beverage guru Austin Carson, and hospitality maven Heather Morrison.
Each evening we open the doors to our restaurant as if it were our home, welcoming guests with warmth and graciousness. We believe you’ll feel our attention to hospitality the minute you step inside.
We draw inspiration from classic Italian dishes and the traditions that bring them to life, but we also feature flavors and recipes from around the world. Our food is made with care and intention. We source our ingredients from organic and local producers whenever possible. Our beverage program features expertly-crafted but playful cocktails, alongside an Italian-focused wine list.
We look forward to sharing with you our passion for outstanding food and service.
Meet the Team
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Ty Leon
OWNER
Ty leon was born and raised in Gilbert, Arizona. After graduating high school in 2007, he moved to Denver, Colorado to attend Johnson and Wales University to study culinary arts and restaurant management. After graduating in 2011 he moved to Saratoga, California to work in the Michelin starred restaurant The Plumed Horse.
After two years of living in California, Colorado was calling and Ty landed a position at one of Denver’s iconic restaurants, Mizuna. Ty was promoted to Executive Chef in 2016 and remained with Bonanno Concepts until he and his business partners left in 2018 to open Bistro Georgette inside of Avanti F&B.
Prior to opening Restaurant Olivia on January 14th, 2020, Ty spent time working and learning in some of the country's best kitchens, including Le Pigeon, Flour & Water and Lilia.
Ty was named Denver’s Best Chef by 5280 in 2020, featured in Zagat’s “30 under 30” and was recently highlighted by the Denver Post as one of “7 Chefs to Watch.”
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Heather Morrison
OWNER
An East Coast transplant, Heather has been in the restaurant industry for over 30 years. Her time in Denver has been highlighted by a who’s who of iconic restaurants including The Fourth Story, Barolo Grill, and Mizuna.
After eleven years with Bonanno Concepts, Heather opened Bistro Georgette with business partners Ty Leon and Austin Carson before founding Restaurant Olivia together in January of 2020.
Heather has been featured in various articles drawing attention to her passion for the art of hospitality including “Conversations with the Inspiring Heather Morrison” by Voyager Denver. Since day one at Olivia she has been the heart and soul of service.
Heather’s most important job, and the one she is most proud of, is being Olivia’s mom.
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Austin Carson
OWNER
An Oklahoma native, Austin is a twenty two year industry veteran who oversees the beverage program at Restaurant Olivia, as well as attends to the business needs of the growing organization.
Prior to opening Bistro Georgette with his business partners in 2018, Austin was the General Manager at Denver stalwart Mizuna, as well as the Wine Director for Bonanno Concepts.
Austin is a certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers and holds an Advanced degree from the International Wine and Spirits Education Trust. Additionally, he is a graduate of the acclaimed Bar 5 Day program in New York City, a certified beer specialist through Cicerone and has garnered recognition in the cocktail industry as a national finalist in cocktail competitions such as Diageo World Class, Heaven Hill Bartender of the Year and Bombay Sapphire’s Most Imaginative. In 2017 he won the Starchef’s “Rising Star” award, one of the first Colorado bartenders to do so.
Austin is a lifelong entrepreneur who sits on the board of two companies outside of the restaurant industry, and he was recently accepted into and completed the “Business and Leadership” program through the MAD Academy in Copenhagen.
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Missy Ihli
General Manager
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Addison Bollaert
Chef de Cuisine
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Scott Thomas
Wine Director
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Erika Copeland
Bar Manager
What we do is bigger than plates of food, wine, and cocktails. We are committed to imbuing the work experience with an ambitious north star: to change the restaurant industry.
Our aim is to help people reach their potential, to be protectors of wild places, and to return a sense of nobility to service and hospitality.
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We exist to help provide a blueprint for future generations of restaurants to positively impact the lives of their employees, their guests, and the environment through long term, positive-sum business practices.
We aim to create conditions that allow for our employees, and ourselves, to reach their personal and professional potential through a commitment to growth, innovation, imagination, creativity, and evolution.
We commit to deepen our relationship with the producers of our food, wine and spirits and develop a more thorough understanding of the environmental impacts of our decisions while inspiring our community to bring about sustainable change.
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INTEGRITY
Humility is recognizing that we are never a finished product and there is always space for growth and evolution.
We understand the importance of being coachable.
We build around learn-it-all's, not know-it-all's.
HUMILITY
Our Core Values are aspirational and our expectation is not perfection, but a commitment to growth.
Thinking critically about the work experience and constantly looking for ways to improve and optimize will help ensure that we are positioned to attain our goals.
We constantly look for ways to improve, learning from our mistakes and building upon our successes.
We recognize that incremental improvement allows us to reach our individual and collective potential.
RELENTLESS IMPROVEMENT
To be optimistic is to embrace the idea that we have the ability to shape the future and, as such, we will remain resolute in the face of challenges.
We see opportunities and solutions where others see problems and obstacles.
We believe that skepticism is healthy, cynicism is toxic.
OPTIMISM
Resilience is the ability to return to our mental or emotional baseline.
We are working to build an antifragile organization that gains from disorder.
We understand what we can and can't control and actively look for the opportunities in adversity.
RESILIENCE
Each of us is responsible for the physical state of the work environment and we collectively assume responsibility for its upkeep.
We believe that caring for our physical space is a matter or ethics and respect.
We understand that a clean, well organized work space is not only more productive but can also lead to unity and social harmony.
CLEANLINESS & ORDERLINESS
Awareness and empathy for one another fosters an inclusive, respectful, safe and supportive work environment.
We take a genuine interest in the lives of our co-workers, and who they are as people, which helps us create and protect a psychologically safe work place.
We believe the restaurant business, like life, is about how we make people feel.
