TL; DR: Green Olive Tree is a small but powerful hosting and server management company that acts as an extension of your team. Founded and operated by Jon Berry — a Navy veteran with decades of tech experience — Green Olive Tree provides the full-service suite of managed bare metal servers, cloud hosting, and tailored support that goes beyond the basics.
I recently switched banks. After weeks without my new debit card, I reached out for an update. Predictably, the chatbot was useless and sent me to a knowledge base that directed me to call an 800 number. After bouncing between departments, I was told everything was pending and to “wait a few more days.”
I think it’s safe to say one of the most frustrating parts of being a consumer is jumping through hoops just to get a simple question answered or a problem solved. Many big companies love to claim they put customers first, but when you need help, it can feel like the Ghost of Bad Service has possessed them.
If you’ve ever been stuck on hold, repeating your problem for the fifth time to someone reading from a script, you understand the value of a caring and knowledgeable support team. For web developers, startups, and SaaS companies, that kind of personalized support is non-negotiable.
Now, picture this: Every time you call or reach out to your provider, you’re greeted by a familiar voice that already knows your setup inside and out. That’s exactly what the managed cloud hosting and server maintenance provider Green Olive Tree does for its customers.
Its President and Owner, Jon Berry, said it best: “Because we’re such a small team, when customers reach out with an issue, they’re talking to someone they know and have spoken with before. They’re not dealing with one of a hundred tier-one support reps who have never heard of them or seen their server.”
This means no outsourced call centers or faceless support agents — just real, straightforward help from a dedicated U.S.-based team. Because when it comes to support, “waiting a few days” isn’t good enough.
From Navy Roots
Olive trees aren’t just known for producing salty additions for salads and martini. They’re pretty incredible plants that bear fruit year-round, can grow up to nearly 50 feet tall, and are capable of living for hundreds — even thousands — of years.
Jon drew on the resilience of an olive tree when he retired from the Navy after 20 years and launched his server maintenance company, Green Olive Tree.
His tech experience dates back to the late ‘70s, where he worked with computers, founded a BBS (bulletin board system) company, and was already riding the internet boom by the mid-1990s.
“I was very active in forums, learning the hosting-specific side of things and then helping others. Eventually, in 2005, someone on a forum asked me, ‘How much would you charge to just take care of my server for me?’ and that’s what launched us into server management. I thought, ‘That’s a brilliant idea. Let’s do it.’”
Jon’s journey into server management eventually led to Green Olive Tree offering managed hosting packages, including dedicated bare metal servers and cloud servers.
Upon visiting its website, I figured Green Olive Tree was a small team, but I was surprised to learn from its president that this decades-old company is made up of just three employees.
And yet, despite its size, it supports more than 400 clients across nearly 600 servers and brings in more than $1 million in annual revenue.
“There’s always an opportunity to expand, grow, and push the boundaries with new, cutting-edge things. That’s what keeps me completely invested.”
— Jon Berry, Owner and President of Green Olive Tree
“I’ve never aspired to be the next Bluehost or GoDaddy,” Jon said. “It’s a valuable business and I couldn’t ask for more. Our clients appreciate the personal touch and tend to stay with us for years — some for 15, 16, even 17 years now.”
In fact, Jon estimates about 98% of Green Olive Tree’s business comes from word-of-mouth referrals.
Now, that’s customer loyalty.
Going Beyond Hosting
Between bare metal servers, infrastructure management, and one-time solutions (such as performance checks or WordPress assistance), Green Olive Tree touches a bit on all aspects of web hosting.
But Jon says most of its customers are in the bare metal space — which comes as no surprise.
See, they’re pretty popular.
Bare metal servers are physical, dedicated servers that provide users with complete control over the hardware. They are among the highest-performing, reliable, and most customizable types of servers, meaning they’re ideal for applications needing the best of the best power and security.
While bare metal servers can have a higher upfront cost, they’re great for long-term cost savings — particularly for high-demand applications. Cloud services, on the other hand, typically operate on a pay-as-you-go model.
“Cloud servers are great when you’re starting with just a few sites. But on AWS, that $5-a-month VPS looks less appealing once you need to scale it up,” Jon said. “Suddenly, you’re paying triple what you would for a bare metal server with the same specs.”
Jon makes a great point about what many businesses eventually discover. While cloud servers are great for getting started, the costs can spiral as your needs grow.
It’s about knowing when that shift is the right move — and that’s where Jon’s decades of experience come in. His main clients include web designers, developers, and dev houses from different industries.
“They build sites and get paid once, but hosting brings in recurring revenue,” Jon explained. “Most developers I know don’t have the sys-admin skills to keep spammers and hackers out, troubleshoot email issues, and keep everything updated.”
Here’s a look at Green Olive Tree’s full suite of services:
- WordPress: One-time $39 fee for tools and services to analyze and boost WordPress performance, ensuring faster load times and enhanced user experience.
- Managed Hosting
- Dedicated/Cloud Servers: $20–$250/month for private server resources, avoiding shared hosting risks.
- Server Management: Full management services (monitoring, security, maintenance) for smooth operations.
- Custom Plans: Best for small businesses to high-traffic sites, these server packages range from $250 to $725/month.
- Shared Hosting: Starts at $5/month.
- Support & Consulting
- Hourly Support: $125/hour for help with any server-related tasks, optimizations, or security audits.
- Infrastructure Consulting: Chat with Jon himself for advice on designing server setups for both hardware and software.
- Monitoring Services: Performance-focused server monitoring for $9/month.
For startups and small businesses that can’t afford a full-time Chief Technology Officer — the person who leads a company’s tech strategy — Jon and his team step in to fill that crucial role.
“In many ways, we act as a CTO for startups and small businesses,” Jon said. “Clients often come to us saying, ‘Here’s what we want to do — we just don’t know how.’ Our role is to outline the goals, figure out what needs to be done, and map out the steps.”
“Our edge is prioritizing top-quality service over sheer profit.”
— Jon Berry
Jon’s approach means clients receive solutions that fit their unique requirements — whether they’re opting for basic shared hosting or curious about investing in infrastructure worth thousands.
He also mentioned Green Olive Tree is provider-agnostic, which means the team can work without issue with some of the most popular cloud and server providers, such as AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure.
“I’m not here to push a single product line on anyone,” Jon promised. “If someone reaches out to us, they’re going to get a fair deal and honest advice.”
Built on Trust (and Sustainability)
Green Olive Tree recently deployed the latest iteration of its own cloud.
“That’s one of the things I really like about this industry — there’s always something new, something to learn. It never gets boring, it never gets old…though it can get annoying,” Jon laughed. “But there’s always an opportunity to expand, grow, and push the boundaries with new, cutting-edge things. That’s what keeps me completely invested.”
For example, Green Olive Tree’s cloud is built on bare metal, too. It operates from its Richmond data center and partners with major providers (such as IBM) so it can guarantee competitive pricing.
“We’ve invested heavily in this new structure and are finalizing a dedicated website for it,” Jon added. “Our edge is prioritizing top-quality service over sheer profit.”
A hidden fun fact about Green Olive Tree is its partnership with Trees for the Future, a nonprofit organization dedicated to planting trees and restoring landscapes in developing communities.
The nonprofit’s mission is to implement the forest garden approach to plant trees and plants that can provide food, income, and other community-based benefits. Since 1989, Trees for the Future has planted millions of trees across sub-Saharan Africa.
And with every single server sold through Green Olive Tree, you, too, can feel good about contributing to something great while getting your business off the ground. The company’s goal is to plant more than 140,000 trees by 2030. Green Olive Tree currently contributes about 15,000 trees every year — but, hey, it could always be more.
If you’re in the U.S. and looking for shared hosting, bare metal servers, server management — or just some solid advice — speaking with Jon makes it clear: Green Olive Tree is the kind of company backed by passion, expertise, and real honesty.
