Andrea and Cory Olson pose with two of their three daughters. This photo comes from a Good Grains cereal box, like the one shown in the inset image.
Anteater baseball and Social Ecology alum is revolutionizing cereal
By Matt Coker
For Cory Olson, navigating high-stakes environments and demanding schedules is second nature. Long before he was launching national food brands, Olson was anchoring the diamond as an Anteater outfielder. A transfer student-athlete from Orange Coast College, Olson played baseball for UC Irvine in 2009 and 2010 — a standout era when the team earned the top spot as the number one college baseball team in the country.
While managing the intense rhythm of Division I athletics, Olson was also pursuing his Bachelor of Arts at the School of Social Ecology, graduating in 2010. Looking back, he attributes much of his professional discipline to those packed collegiate days.
“You go to class, you go to practice, you go to weightlifting ... off-season, it’s not just the season, it’s really the whole year,” Olson explains. “And I think for me, what that teaches you is, one, you have to prioritize your time, and two, you have to protect your time.”
Balancing relentless athletic travel with upper-division coursework taught him to plan strategically and set firm priorities—qualities that seamlessly transferred into his executive career.
“At one point in your life, baseball is going to be done,” Olson reflects. “It kind of re-emphasizes the point that you must be a student first so that you can be an athlete second.”
During his time in the School of Social Ecology, Olson was particularly fascinated by urban planning and sustainability coursework. Living near the beach with his teammates, he viewed the master-planned City of Irvine as a living laboratory for community development and design. That fascination with building and operations shaped his initial career steps.
Immediately after graduating, he served as operations manager at Orange Lutheran High School (his high school alma mater), managing major construction and expansion projects. He later moved into higher education leadership as director of university services at Concordia University.
Then came a pivotal career pivot: an invitation to join a cereal manufacturing company. Stepping into the food sector, Olson rapidly rose to vice president of operations and eventually president, managing operations for seven years. His company operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week, powering the “Better for You” natural food movement. Olson’s team developed, manufactured and scaled roughly 80% of the organic cereal and granola SKUs found on the shelves of natural grocery giants such as Whole Foods, Sprouts and Trader Joe’s.
As the business grew, Olson and his leadership team decided the time was right to pursue a strategic acquisition. They sold the business in 2022, giving Cory space to reflect on what he had built and consider what he wanted to do next. He enrolled in USC’s Executive MBA program to help shape the next chapter.
It was during business school that the seeds for his next venture, Good Grains, were planted. A professor challenged his class to identify what truly excited them and aligned with their core strengths. Olson realized his specialized knowledge in food manufacturing, combined with his passion for clean nutrition, pointed him right back to the cereal aisle.
“Cereal and granola have been something that I’ve been really good at, and I know a lot about it, and how to create products,” Olson reasons. “Making a new spin on a product that maybe we used to love as kids, but now they’re a little different.”
Olson set out to create a clean, honest alternative to ultra-processed breakfast foods. Most commercial cereals rely on twin-screw extrusion—a heavy-machinery process that mixes refined grains with intense heat, steam and pressure. While highly efficient, it produces the technical definition of an ultra-processed product. Olson wanted a gentler, more natural approach.
The solution came through puffed grains, a process similar to popping popcorn using simple heat to expand whole grains without heavy chemical processing. Utilizing a unique supply chain connection through his wife Andrea’s family, Olson built Good Grains around organic puffed grains, coating them simply with pure honey and tapioca fiber for added nutritional benefits—completely bypassing refined sugars.
“It’s actually the first non-ultra-processed cereal brand,” Olson says proudly. “It’s unique. It’s different than what you would traditionally see on the cereal shelf.”
The response from the food industry has been nothing short of explosive. Good Grains officially launched in March at Natural Products Expo West, the natural product industry’s premier trade show. Within two days, the brand received coveted “Golden Tickets” from major distributors UNFI and KeHE, recognizing Good Grains as a premier emerging brand.
From there, retail expansion accelerated at breakneck speed. Sprouts Farmers Market greenlit the line for nationwide distribution within three days of the show. Erewhon quickly picked up the brand, followed by retail listings with Gelson’s, Thrive Market, Wakefern, Target and Whole Foods.
Managing a high-growth startup is demanding on its own, but his family life was moving just as fast. On the exact day Good Grains debuted on Sprouts shelves across the country, the Olsons welcomed their third daughter, Adeline, joining her 7-year-old and 4-year-old sisters.
“You start a business ... and you know how hard it’s going to be,” Olson says with a laugh. “And then, you decide, okay, we’re going to have another baby ... and the baby’s born literally on the day we launched in Sprouts!”
He pauses a beat to reflect: “Taking it a day at a time, and we’re super excited.”
From navigating Division I athletics and social ecology studies at UCI to founding a pioneering natural food brand, Olson continues to apply the lessons of focus, team building and discipline he learned as an Anteater. As Good Grains expands into natural and conventional grocers nationwide, he remains dedicated to reimagining everyday food using simple, wholesome ingredients families can trust.
“UCI has a special place in my heart,” Olson says. “It gives you a purpose—to learn, figure out what makes you tick, and discover what gets you excited. I’m just proud to have been a part of the program, and I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.”