2-(3,4-Dihydroxyphenyl)ethanol (DPE), the major phenolic compound in olive oil, may contribute the antioxidative activities and other beneficial effects to olive oil. However, the lack of commercial available DPE and procedures sensitive enough to quantitatively determine DPE in body fluids have limited the bioavailability and metabolism studies on this phenolic compound. In the present study, DPE was synthesized with high yield and high purity and administered orally to rats. DPE concentration in rat plasma, after absorption, was measured using a sensitive GC-MS-SIM method. The results indicated that the highest level of DPE in plasma was detected at 5-10 min after administration. During this period, the concentration of DPE fluctuated widely with the individual.