Olivia is a designer, fourth-generation farmer, mother, artist, and healer born and raised in Somerset on family-land where Fern Hollow Farm is presently located. Olivia received a full-tuition scholarship to study at Ohio State, and received a Bachelor of Science in Environment, Economics, Development, and Sustainability from the College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences. During her studies, Olivia worked on academic research related to climate change mitigation, deforestation, ecotourism, and permaculture. Olivia collectively spent a year traveling and living abroad in India, Peru, and Guatemala working with various social entrepreneurs, youth programs, farmers, and social justice projects. It was around this time, Olivia started seriously considering beginning a social-farming project of her own, and after attending the Permaculture Design Course in 2014 and meeting Erik, the real work began. While developing the farm, Olivia graduated with a Master of Social Work from Ohio State in 2018. Olivia’s graduate studies focused on mental health, community development, and social justice with the goal of designing these themes into future Fern Hollow Farm programs. Olivia spent the next several years working as a therapist in local communities specializing in nature-based therapy, somatic psychotherapy, and developmental trauma, as well as working to develop community care-farming and local food initiatives in Somerset and teaching courses in permaculture design. Presently, Olivia works full-time on the farm with her wild & wonderful toddler, Samara, in tow. In 2025, Olivia is launching a wellness collective, Cura, which offers personal and group coaching and retreats. She is excited to draw on her diverse knowledge and experience to collaborate with folks in discovering and walking the path between where they are to where they want to be.

Erik Peterson is a co-founder and Steward of Fern Hollow Farm, a working permaculture designer and educator, natural builder, and advocate for community food security and resilience. After college, he continued to live in the Athens, Ohio area working in the non-profit realm with Community Food Initiatives, developing local food security through farmers’ market programs, and school and community gardens. During this time, Erik first came across the idea of permaculture, and undertook the PDC training at Solid Ground Farm in spring of 2014, where he also met Olivia, his then-future wife and co-founder of Fern Hollow Farm. In the spring of 2015, Fern Hollow Farm was launched on family land just outside of Somerset, Ohio. Beginning that same year, Erik began 5 years of teaching apprenticeship with Midwest Permaculture, studying under long time permaculture teachers Becky and Bill Wilson. Erik currently runs the permaculture design and installation wing of the farm business, and to date has taught or co-taught in 19 Permaculture Design Courses across the US and Canada at various farms, colleges, and other sites. As of October of 2023, Erik has primarily focused on his role as the Resilient Communities Program Director at Rural Action, a regional non-profit. In this position, Erik works on community scale resilience through small business development, management of a rural community makerspace (the Builder’s Club of Somerset), increasing sustainable agriculture education and practices, watershed work, and bringing alternative energy to Appalachia.