Our Story
Rich Arentzen and Tove Ohlander are the co-founders of AO Glass.
Together, they built a vibrant, one-of-a-kind glass factory-studio in Burlington, Vermont’s South End. Their story began back in 1994 when they met at Sweden’s legendary National School of Glass in Orrefors, By 1998, they’d started up their first studio near Oslo, Norway. In 2007 they founded AO Glass—a hotspot where craftsmanship and design meets a creative community.
Their two glass traditions and aesthetics - Swedish and Italian-American - comes together in complementary ways, resulting in an authentic line of products online and in stores.
Rich Arentzen grew up in Guilford CT and graduated from Bucknell University. Through inspiration from his jeweler aunt Glenda Arentzen and her partner and early studio glass pioneer Rick Harkness, he began blowing glass in 1990 in Burlington Vermont. Now that the infrastructure is established, he is re-focusing on creative production and day to day operations.
Tove Ohlander grew up in a densely glass-cultured area of the world, Småland, Sweden, and went to the Orrefors Glass School. She is a glass product designer, brand development manager, and the founder of tove wear ~ a clothing brand with a clear women focus, based on her experience as a creative maker looking for empowering and inspiring clothes.
You may find both Arentzen and Ohlander alongside talented staff members at their 10,000-square-foot glass studio on Pine Street. Here they craft everything from sleek high-end lighting components to homey glass gifts and classy tableware that makes even a Tuesday dinner feel fancy. AO Glass keeps its Nordic roots strong, working in top-quality Swedish glass raw material from Glasma in Småland—where raw material science meets centuries of glass tradition.
AO Glass is a “protector of the craft of glass” - literally keeping the fires burning while providing jobs and contributing to Burlington’s creative economy as a manufacturer of glassware and hand blown glass components with national clients.
