Olive growing is widespread throughout the Mediterranean basin, where the world's main producing countries are located, but also in other mid-latitude locations on the eastern fronts of the continents, with similar climatic conditions, and is even acclimatizing in places where these requirements are not met. In the case of the rural Mediterranean regions most specialized in the production and sale of olive oil, they are facing the challenges of a period of profound changes, in the context of the tensions introduced by globalization. The range of opportunities and threats arising from this situation is determined by the diversity and contrast of farms, ranging from smallholdings for recreational agriculture to large, highly technological farms that compete successfully in the international market. This paper has compared the responses to these pressures for change in four of the main producing areas of Spain, Italy, France and Portugal: Andalusia, Apulia, Provence and Alentejo. Most of the results were obtained using qualitative methods. Thus, the four regional areas were visited to conduct in-depth interviews, organize discussion groups with key local actors and carry out autonomous fieldwork. Likewise, the existence of an important gap between modern high-density olive groves, with a competitive strategy based on cost reduction, and traditional olive groves, where a strategy of qualification and differentiation to achieve profitability in globalized markets is gaining ground.