Olive tree cuttings from the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem, where Jesus spent the night ahead of his crucifixion, are thriving in a tiny rural community in southern New South Wales.

When Jim Speer returned from serving as a digger in the Middle East, he brought with him cuttings from the garden's olive trees and planted them in the tiny hamlet of Laggan, north of Crookwell.

The Garden of Gethsemane sits at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, and is known as the place where Jesus and his disciples prayed before the crucifixion.

Olive trees originating from Garden of Gethsemane brought to Australia by WW1 digger appear blessed ( Michael Cavanagh )

The garden's name literally means oil press and a 2012 study in Italy found some of the trees from Gethsemane are the oldest known to science.

Mr Speer planted the cuttings on his property on his return from war, and they have since been replanted in the grounds of a restaurant by local chef Graham Liney.

"He was a good country boy," Mr Liney said.

"He was born and bred in the country and like all country people they have green fingers. It was obviously something that intrigued him and it obviously worked."

The local chef and potato farmer was given permission by Mr Speer's son to remove the trees and re-plant them after his father had died.

"I had been to Italy and had seen them moving olive trees. So we went up in the middle of winter and back hoed a hole around them and chain sawed the tops out," said Mr Liney.

"It's a very warm feeling because of the history of the trees."

Two healthy olive trees now stand either side of the entrance to Mr Liney's restaurant and provide fruit for customers.

"We pick as much as we can. Although I have a lot of magpies here which eat them as well. But we manage to pick around three buckets a year and they are brined," Mr Liney said.

"The final product is smaller than many of the olives that are commercially available.

"There is not a lot of fruit on the pip, but there is an incredible intense flavour. They are a very small olive and probably a high oil content, but very good flavour, excellent flavour," he said.

Mr Liney said he was expecting big things of his trees during the centenary year of the Gallipoli landing.

"You can see all of these olives that are now forming; this will possibly be one of the best crops ever this year. This is probably going to be as good as it ever gets."