He was involved in the Indian cotton trade before founding a banking house in Paris during the Bourbon Restoration.

[1] An ancestor, also named Antoine Odier, took refuge in Geneva shortly before the end of the 17th century, fleeing religious persecution resulting from the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.

Some years before the French Revolution he was given charge of the Ostend outlet, which he transferred to Lorient in 1791 after the suppression of the monopoly of the Compagnie des Indes.

[6] After being released Odier moved to Ostend to look after the company's business, then to Hamburg, where he married Susanne Boué, who was like him a descendant of Protestant French refugees.

1798), who later became a judge at the court of commerce, a regent of the Bank of France[a] and a member of the Central Council of Reformed Churches, Edouard-Alexandre (b.

[7] He devoted himself to developing the national industry, and from this time forward the manufacture of painted canvas was very successful.

[6] Odier's bank, established during the Bourbon Restoration (1815–30), was part of the elite group known as the haute banque parisienne.

[5] The Association pour la défense du Travail national was formed to oppose the lowering of tariffs.

[11] The council included Antoine Odier (President), Auguste Mimerel (Vice-President), Joseph Périer (Treasurer) and Louis-Martin Lebeuf (Secretary).

He disagreed with the policies of Napoleon III, and after the coup d'état of 2 December 1851 he refused to become a member of the Consultative Commission.