Olympia Events appoints Karen Cmela as new F&B Director
Olympia Events, managed by Legends Global, has appointed Karen Cmela as Food & Beverage Director to lead the next phase of its in-house F&B operation.
Cmela brings extensive experience across the hospitality, sports and live events sector, having held senior leadership roles at some of the UK’s best-known venues, including Ascot Racecourse and The O2. Her expertise spans large-scale F&B operations, premium hospitality and guest experience with strong experience of developing and delivering high-quality hospitality offerings at major live event and entertainment venues.
At Olympia, Cmela will be responsible for shaping the F&B proposition across its heritage halls, new International Convention Centre (ICC) and The Addison.
Operated by Olympia Events, as part of Legends Global, the venue has invested significantly in strengthening its food and beverage offer for organisers and guests. Drawing on expertise from across Legends Global’s extensive portfolio, Olympia’s enhanced in-house F&B approach is focused on delivering exceptional guest experiences through a world-class culinary and hospitality team.
Following the launch of its new International Convention Centre (ICC) this year, Cmela is focused on growing the venue’s culinary approach across conferences and corporate live events, alongside its strong exhibition calendar. Under her leadership, the venue will continue to broaden its culinary proposition to accommodate everything from large-scale catering events to banquets, dinners and award ceremonies.
Alex Lewis, COO at Olympia Events said:
“Karen joins Olympia Events with a wealth of experience leading food and beverage across some of the UK’s most complex and high-profile venues. Her appointment comes at an important time for the business as we continue to strengthen our F&B offering across exhibitions and scale our approach across conferences and live events. Her understanding of large-scale hospitality, customer experience and evolving audience expectations will be invaluable as we build on the changes already underway, evolve our conference offering, and prepare to launch The Addison.”
Olympia’s transformation is one of the most ambitious regeneration projects in the world. As F&B Director, Cmela is focused on shaping a cohesive F&B experience across the wider destination, developing high-quality concepts tailored to the distinct needs of Olympia Events’ different venues and audiences. While each space requires its own approach, her overarching philosophy is to ensure a consistently high standard built around quality, provenance and customer experience.
Commenting on her appointment, Cmela said:
“Food and beverage should be a core reason organisers want to bring their events back to Olympia. What excites me most about this role is the scale of the opportunity, with the chance to shape the F&B offer across multiple venues, each with very different audiences and needs. I want us to challenge expectations of what event catering can be and create food and hospitality experiences that feel relevant, high-quality and genuinely add to the overall event, rather than feeling like a functional add-on.”
“What the team has achieved over the past 12 months, from bringing catering in-house under Legends Global to relaunching the retail offer across our heritage halls, is testament to the great progress already underway. I’m excited to build on that momentum, support the team and help shape world-class culinary experiences across Olympia.”
Cmela joined Olympia Events on 7 September2026. Opening in phases, the all-new Olympia is home to a host of new bars, restaurants and hotels, the 3,800-capacity music venue British Airways ARC, alongside new public spaces, and more to come in 2027, including London's newest theatre in 50 years.
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