We get many questions asking about growing olives.  Olive trees need a subtropical climate so look at the climate section below to see if you qualify.  The type of tree you pick depends on whether you want one for oil or for pickling olives. For ornamental purposes you can get fruitless varieties.  Different varieties have different looks: some have long narrow silvery leaves, some have weeping branches, others are dwarfed.  Go to varieties for more specifics. 

Buying trees:  Buy from a local nursery or import from another state or country.  There may be restrictions to bringing olive trees from one state or country to another.  Check with your local customs and agricultural departments.  You may need to receive your trees as rooted cuttings with their roots washed of soil to minimize the risk of importing plant pathogens.  See tree vendors.  Many vendors give price breaks when buying hundreds or thousands of trees and have minimum order quantities.

Climate Region for Olives
Cost of Land
Drainage
Exposure
Incline

Temperature

Olives are subtropical and do best with mild winters and long dry summers.  Branches are killed by temperatures below 22 degrees and whole trees will be killed by freezing temperatures to 15 degrees.

Olives will grow in climate zones 10 and 11.  Some varieties are hardy to zone 9 or even 8. Freezing conditions lasting days or a hard freeze will kill or severely damage an olive tree.

You could grow a tree "bonsai style" and keep it indoors and we have heard of people who have trees in large containers who move them indoors or into a hothouse during very cold weather but this is probably impractical for most growers.

Although non-deciduous, olive trees do require a cold period to go into semi dormancy.  If you have a winter month where the average daily temperature is below 54 degrees or less then the tree will get the message to slow growth and change gears for flowering in the spring.

Zone 1: below -46 C (below -50 F)
Zone 2: -46 to -40 C (-50 to -40 F)
Zone 3: -40 to -34 C (-40 to -30 F)
Zone 4: -34 to -29 C (-30 to -20 F)
Zone 5: -29 to -23 C (-20 to -10 F)
Zone 6: -23 to -18 C (-10 to 0 F)
Zone 7: -18 to -12 C (0 to 10 F)
Zone 8: -12 to -7 C (10 to 20 F)
Zone 9: -7 to -1 C (20 to 30 F)
Zone 10: -1 to 4 C (30 to 40 F)
Zone 11: above 4 C (above 40 F)

Rainfall

Summer rainfall can cause fungal and bacterial infestations.  Olive trees are susceptible to wet roots rotting.

Olive or oil profits do not justify high land costs.  While a Napa or Sonoma Valley appellation may offer a marketing advantage, nobody could cost justify buying such expensive land to grow olives.  Grapes can yield up to ten times the gross revenues of olives for the same amount of land.  Many of the emerging olive oil growing regions take advantage of cheap land; Australia, Chile, Argentina, Texas, etc.