[4][5] Petit began his career at minor club ES Arques-la-Bataille before being signed by Arsène Wenger's Monaco side at the age of 18.

The French duo formed a midfield partnership which brought instant success, as Petit won the double with Arsenal in his very first season, clinching both the Premier League title and the FA Cup.

In his biography, published in 2008, the midfielder gave his time at Barcelona a special chapter in which he exposed that coach Lorenzo Serra Ferrer did not even know what position he played when he joined the team.

[6] After his first season at the Camp Nou, Petit was linked with moves back to England with Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea, joining the latter in 2001 in a £7.5 million transfer deal.

[7][8] He initially was a first-team regular for the Blues in a largely disappointing first season and played in the 2002 FA Cup final[9] which Chelsea lost to his old club, Arsenal.

[13] After being released by Chelsea, Petit rejected the chance to sign for Bolton Wanderers,[14][15] and he announced his retirement on 20 January 2005 after failing to fully recover following knee surgery.

[16][17][18] Playing for the France national team, Petit earned 63 caps and scored six international goals in his career and won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000.

While playing for his club Arques in 1988, Olivier collapsed and was rushed to hospital where he was pronounced dead due to a blood clot of the brain.

Petit wore the number 17 shirt in club football throughout his career as 17 was his brother's age when he died [30] He starred as himself in a Christmas special episode of British police show The Bill in 1998.