Olive trees are among the oldest known cultivated trees in the world. The botanical progenitor of the olive tree is not accurately known, but it is thought to be the Oleaster Olea Sylvestris which is still grown wild in North Africa, Portugal, Southern France, Italy and by the Black and Caspian Seas.

Genetic and archaeological studies indicate that the original center of olive cultivation was Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus and Crete.

The Jewish people knew about the olive tree thousands of years ago. In the Hebrew culture, the olive tree symbolized peace and happiness.

According to another theory, the olive tree is a descendant of Olea chrysophylla, which grew in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda and neighboring areas. These two species probably originated from another tree that covered much of the Sahara Desert prior to the Glacier age!

Others believe that the olive tree originated from Africa (Ethiopia and Egypt). This is where olive trees were first cultivated systematically and from where they spread to Cyprus, Morocco, Algiers, Tunisia and elsewhere by the Phoenicians. The historians Theophrastos reported that the olive tree grew in southern Italy, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and elsewhere. The olive tree was cultivated in Egypt thousands of years ago. It was around 2000 B.C. that the olive orchards disappeared, either because they were destroyed for some unknown reason or because the interest of the people turned to other crops. Perhaps at that time, olive trees were brought to the southern coast of Crete.

Olive tree cultivation was spread to Greece or North Africa to Italy and to other Mediterranean countries around 600 B.C. The olive tree was probably introduced to Spain by the Greeks, the Romans and the Arabs. That is indicated by the use in Spain of both Greco-roman and Arabic words associated with olives. The olive fruit, for instance, is called"aceituna" and the olive oil "aceite" which are Arabic words, while the tree is called "olive" which is Latin from the Greek "elea".

The Romans considered those who used animal fats instead of olive oil in their diet as barbarians. Rome extended olive cultivation to the entire empire under its occupation.

The olive culture played an enormous role in the early civilizations of Egypt and Greece. Athens was named in honor of the goddess Athena who brought the olive tree to the city. Plato's Olive Tree on Holly street (Iera odos) in Athens still exists.

Solon had passed special laws for the olive tree. It is believed that the god for farming and animal raising, Aristeos, invented the cultivation of the olive tree and the olive oil mill.

The olive tree is of great historic importance. It played an important role in areas such as diet, religion, and the decoration of pottery, of walls and of gold pieces of art. It also constituted the symbol for peace, wisdom and victory. The crowing wreaths for the winners of the Olympic games were made of a wild olive branch (Kotinos).

The therapeutic properties of the olive oil were known to Hippocrates, the father of medicine. The consumption of a spoonful of oil was common practice for many people and still is for some, despite the advancement of pharmacology.

Pictures found in the palace of Knossos in Crete indicate that people consumed olives and used olive oil for cooking and for fuel in lamps. Archeologists believe that the wealth of the Minoic Kingdom was related to the successful trade of Cretan olive oil. Hoge clay containers, used for the storage of olive oil, can be found even today in ancient Knossos, Phestos and in other places.