`A Croatian Olive Grower's Journey from Ancestral Roots to Award-Winning Groves - Olive Oil Times
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A Croatian Olive Grower's Journey from Ancestral Roots to Award-Winning Groves

By Nedjeljko Jusup
Mar. 24, 2025 21:31 UTC
Summary Summary

Krešimir Uroda, inspired by his father’s legacy, returned to his fam­i­ly’s ances­tral land in Dalmatia to cul­ti­vate a suc­cess­ful olive grove, win­ning awards for his high-qual­ity olive oil. He has also become a pio­neer in olive tourism, host­ing guests at his ​“Orkula” Robinson house and pro­mot­ing sus­tain­able prac­tices in olive grow­ing, aim­ing to cre­ate a sig­nif­i­cant tourist attrac­tion on Makirina Hill.

This is the inspir­ing story of Krešimir Uroda, a Croatian olive grower who returned to his fam­i­ly’s ances­tral land in Dalmatia and, much like the bib­li­cal fig­ure Samson, trans­formed a rugged hill into a thriv­ing olive grove attrac­tion.

Returning to Roots and Building a Legacy

Krešimir, now 43, embarked on this ven­ture after the pass­ing of his father, Ante. Having grown up in Čakovec in north­ern Croatia, Krešimir felt the pull of his her­itage and returned to Pirovac, his fam­i­ly’s ances­tral home on the Dalmatian coast.

The Uroda family

His fam­i­ly’s story is one of con­nec­tion and love. Ante, born in Pirovac, fell in love with Danica, a tal­ented hand­ball player from Međimurje. Their love story led to mar­riage, and they built a life in Čakovec, rais­ing Krešimir and his two sis­ters. Ante, how­ever, never for­got his roots and, 15 years prior to Krešimir’s return, had planted 370 olive trees on the neglected fam­ily land in Pirovac, at a loca­tion called Kruška. He often urged Krešimir to take over the olive grove, a wish that became even more press­ing as his health declined.

A Father’s Legacy and Award-Winning Oil

“I always wanted to come back; my heart was pulling me here, so it was­n’t a dif­fi­cult deci­sion,” Krešimir explains. In the spring of 2018, as his father’s health took a seri­ous turn, Krešimir took over the olive grove.

Uroda and his fiancée Đurđica with reporters from Olive Oil Times and Croatian Television

That year, the olive trees yielded a boun­ti­ful har­vest for the first time. Krešimir fondly recalls vis­it­ing his father in the hos­pi­tal daily, shar­ing pho­tos of the laden olive branches. Though his father did not live to see the har­vest, the oil pro­duced from that first ​“caca har­vest” won a gold medal at the ​“Days of Young Olive Oil in Dalmatia” event.

“I ded­i­cated the medal to my father. This suc­cess encour­aged me to pur­sue olive grow­ing even more seri­ously,” Krešimir says. Further recog­ni­tion fol­lowed, includ­ing a remark­able 99 out of 100 points at the pres­ti­gious Noćnjak in Zadar.

International Acclaim and a Growing Enterprise

Krešimir’s ded­i­ca­tion to qual­ity has earned him inter­na­tional acclaim. His olive oils have con­sis­tently won gold medals at the world’s largest eval­u­a­tion of olive oil qual­ity in New York, with the lat­est being his fourth con­sec­u­tive gold.

To expand his pro­duc­tion, he has also taken on two-hun­dred-year-old olive groves. His fiancée, Đurđica, and increas­ingly his son Roko, who will con­tinue his stud­ies in Zadar, assist him in his work.

Pioneering Olive Tourism and Sustainable Practices

Beyond pro­duc­ing high-qual­ity olive oil, Krešimir has become a pio­neer in olive tourism in the Pirovac region. His ​“Orkula” Robinson house, nes­tled within the olive grove, has proven to be a pop­u­lar des­ti­na­tion, booked for 116 days last year. It is a prime exam­ple of how olive grow­ing and tourism can inter­twine suc­cess­fully.

Guests at ​“Orkula” enjoy the tran­quil­ity of the olive grove, sur­rounded by the scents of laven­der and rose­mary. They are also close to nat­ural attrac­tions like the Krka and Zrmanja National Parks, Vrana Lake Nature Park, and the Kamenjak view­point. The Zadar air­port is also con­ve­niently located nearby.

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The pos­i­tive expe­ri­ences of his guests are evi­dent in online reviews and the acco­lades he has received from the Airbnb plat­form, includ­ing the Super Host award and the Travelers’ Choice award from Booking.

Krešimir’s olive grove also serves as an edu­ca­tional hub, host­ing vis­its from stu­dents of var­i­ous ages. Pupils from the Matija Gubec International Primary School in Zagreb par­tic­i­pated in the olive har­vest, while tourism man­age­ment stu­dents from Šibenik learned about pre­mium olive oils and their med­i­c­i­nal prop­er­ties.

Embracing Modern Techniques for Sustainable Growth

Krešimir is also com­mit­ted to mod­ern and sus­tain­able olive-grow­ing prac­tices. Members of the Association of Olive Growers of Šibenik-Knin County ​“Ultra Extra” gath­ered at his grove for a work­shop led by experts from the Olive Pruning School in Zadar. They dis­cussed the advan­tages of the multi-con­i­cal or poly­conic vase cul­ti­va­tion form, a tech­nique gain­ing trac­tion in regions like Tuscany and Croatian Istria. This tech­nique aims to improve olive yields and reduce costs asso­ci­ated with prun­ing, har­vest­ing, and pro­tec­tion.

The exist­ing plan­ta­tion, planted 15 years ago with a 4x5 meter spac­ing, was becom­ing over­crowded. Experts demon­strated the nec­es­sary crown reform, tran­si­tion­ing from spher­i­cal to multi-con­i­cal, and pruned around 100 of the 370 olive trees. Krešimir plans a grad­ual over­haul to achieve opti­mal results, lead­ing to bet­ter crops and cost sav­ings.

Creating a Tourist Attraction on Makirina Hill

Krešimir’s vision extends beyond olive oil pro­duc­tion. He is trans­form­ing another neglected ances­tral land on the Makirina hill at 190 meters above sea level. With the help of heavy machin­ery, he cleared the area of pines and under­growth and ter­raced the steep slope into eight cas­cades. He plans to plant local vari­eties like Oblica and Lastovka.

This under­tak­ing is par­tially funded by a €15,000 grant from LAG ​“More 249” Vodice. Further invest­ments are planned to improve the access road, which already has marked Stations of the Cross. The munic­i­pal­ity has promised to develop pedes­trian and bicy­cle paths.

From this van­tage point, Krešimir, his fiancée Đurđica, mother Danica, and sis­ter Ana enjoy a breath­tak­ing view of Pirovac and the sur­round­ing waters, includ­ing Lake Vrana, the island of Pašman, the Kornati arch­i­pel­ago, and parts of the Velebit moun­tain range. A tra­di­tional dry-stone shel­ter, or ​“bunja,” also adds to the land­scape’s charm. Plans include a small tourist tast­ing room and an obser­va­tion deck, promis­ing to make this a sig­nif­i­cant tourist attrac­tion.

Kresimir Uroda and his fiancée Đurđica

“This will be a kind of tourist attrac­tion,” agrees Danica. Krešimir is con­fi­dent that with the sup­port of his fam­ily, Đurđica, and Roko, their olive-grow­ing busi­ness will con­tinue to flour­ish. He believes that the com­bi­na­tion of qual­ity olive oil pro­duc­tion and olive tourism is the future of the region, empha­siz­ing that suc­cess hinges on per­se­ver­ance. His mantra for achiev­ing com­plete suc­cess is sim­ple: ​“Don’t give up. Second, don’t give up and third — don’t give up!”

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