As a child, probably not much older than his 22-month-old grandson Nathaniel who's frolicking among the trees at the family's Fedra Olive Grove, Konstantinou dreamed of growing his own trees and producing quality oils and table olives.

And now, at 74, he's been recognised by his home country, with his olive oils winning gold medals at the prestigious Athena international olive oil competition.

"I remember when we first came to Australia you had to buy olive oil from the chemist in these little 100, 200ml bottles," says Konstantinou.

"No one was using it, no one knew too much about it.

"We all know Greece is the mother of olive oil and to be recognised by Greece is humbling and wonderful recognition, not only for us, but for Australian olive oil."

Konstantinou came to Australia as an 18-year-old in 1956 to join his father Harry who was then a shoemaker in Canberra. Harry initially went to Melbourne, but there were too many Greeks, the story goes.

Konstantinou worked in the family shoe repair shop and as the years went on he began to dabble in property development; he's now the managing director of the Konstantinou Group, the firm behind the $30 million CISAC complex in Belconnen among other things.

But the idea of growing olives stuck with him. In the late 1990s he and his wife Fedra - the pair have been married for 47 years - brought some land off the Federal Highway past Collector, in 2000 he planted the first trees in the harsh clay soil.

Now, some 20 years on, the grove boasts 6000 trees and award-winning oils and table olives.

Despite a harsh season with the bushfires and the drought, which saw a substantial drop in the harvest, the 2020 oils have been recognised internationally, in Greece, as well as in Japan.

It's easy to think that Konstantinou has recreated a little pocket of Greece on the slopes of the grove. Sitting in his loungeroom he looks out over the trees, there's a small family chapel complete with a bell which rings out across the grove. There's a cafe which is busy with tourists on the weekends, despite COVID restrictions and he's recently built a children's playground to keep the youngsters happy.

Grandson Nathaniel seems content to wander amongst the trees, his father John promises he can see the chickens soon; Nathaniel's also a fan of olives and will purposely pick them out of salads.

Must be something in the blood. Or the oil at least.