Our Team

Oliver 'OJ' Brown, co-founder and CEO of the Big Easy Group, which has been a driving force in Adelaide's hospitality scene since its inception.

Since launching NOLA Adelaide in 2015 the Big Easy Group has gone on to help a series of successful venues like Anchovy Bandit, La Louisiane, and Bottega Bandito just to name a few. Since day one of the Big Easy Group Oj has been passionately helping to deliver on the group's mission of creating unique customer experiences and empowering people to do what they love.

Beyond working for the Big Easy Group, he has contributed to Adelaide's future as a board member of the Adelaide Economic Development Agency while receiving nodes in the Premier and Cabinets Force Forty and Indaily's 40 Under 40 and appearing on the inaugural board of the Australian Restaurant and Cafe Association.

Email: oj@thebigeasygroup.com

Josh Talbot is one of the founding partners of the Big Easy Group and a real humble operator. Josh was working as a Mechanical Engineer when he decided to pursue his love of beer and open NOLA Adelaide back in 2015.

This love of beer turned into a love of all things hospitality, and he has helped countless hospitality venues grow. Josh is part of the operations team and helps map out strategies for growth. Josh loves just getting things done and still loves stocking beers that excite him, he is quite partial to blowing the top off a cold one himself.

Email: josh@thebigeasygroup.com

Jack Booker was part of the founding team at NOLA and proceeded to work his way up through the ranks. Once he finished his studies in Speech Pathology, he decided to pursue a career in hospitality.

After spending the last 8 years serving tables and slinging drinks, Jack has stepped out of Venue Management to take a role at the Big Easy Group with a goal of helping other venues thrive.

Jack’s mission is to break the mold of old-school hospo and do things a little differently. His focus surrounds building world-class training while ensuring that staff love what they do.

Email: Jack@thebigeasygroup.com

Al “Morty D” Bennett. Al was also part of the opening team at NOLA in 2015.

Since then, Al opened a venue of his own, Anchovy Bandit in 2018. Anchovy Bandit and Al have flourished since then, expanding the dining room, and adding on a daytime concept, Bottega Bandito. Al has also helped expand the Bandit brand outside of Prospect with a spin-off, Bandit Pizza and Wine in Hyde Park.

Al loves cured meats, wild assumptions and a yarn with the Prospect locals. If you see Al out, he will most certainly be repping some sort of Bottega merch. Take a moment to grab him for a chat, he loves it!

Email: al@thebigeasygroup.com

Steve comes to us from Five Four Entertainment, where he was all about the festival and live music scene. Before diving into the world of entertainment, he spent 12 years crunching numbers and giving top-notch advice in accounting.

Steve's mission here? To supercharge our finance game and help the leadership team make smart, calculated moves.

When he's not in the office, you'll find Steve jamming on his bass with The Botanicals or rocking out as the lead singer for Nuseum. He loves camping trips, hanging out with his kids, and has a serious weakness for the cheese starter dip at Bandit Pizza & Wine (Cacio e Pepe, anyone?) and a perfectly crafted Negroni.

Email: steve@thebigeasygroup.com

Lauren comes to The Big Easy Group via 5+ years in the Sydney hospitality scene, dreaming up big ideas for the likes of Mary’s Group & Solotel. From tiny local campaigns to months-long collaborations with international heavy hitters Adidas and Patron, there’s little she can’t do.

Lauren loves late night games of pool, big ol’ sandos, the steak tartare at La Lou and multiple coffees and/or beers depending on the hour.

She’s a graphic design weapon, the queen of creativity and owner of a very excellent scruffy dog called Winnie. We’re very lucky to have her!

Email: lauren@thebigeasygrup.com