Maggie Beer AO AM has a career in the food industry spanning over 40 years, beginning as a farmer at the Pheasant Farm in 1979.
She established the Maggie Beer Foundation in 2014.
In 1997, Mrs Beer was named the Telstra South Australian Business Woman of the Year. She was also awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for service to Australian society through cooking and writing; won the Australian Publishers Association's illustrated Book of the Year for Maggie's Harvest in 2008; awarded the Senior Australian of the Year and the Dymphna Clark Memorial Lecture in 2010; and an honorary doctorate from the University of South Australia in recognition of her achievements in tourism and hospitality, and to the promotion of Australian produce and cuisine in 2016.
Mrs Beer was also awarded a Member of the Order of Australia in 2012 for service to the tourism and hospitality industries as a cook, restaurateur and author, and to the promotion of Australian produce and cuisine. In 2022, she was promoted to Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to the tourism and hospitality industries as a cook, restaurateur and author, and to aged welfare.
