Olivier studied medicine in Montpellier, where he became good friends with Pierre Marie Auguste Broussonet.

With Jean Guillaume Bruguière and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck .Jean-Baptiste-François Gigot d'Orcy later employed Olivier who was then able to travel to England and Holland meeting Thomas Martyn in London.

Afterwards, he served as a naturalist on a 6-year scientific journey that took him to Asia Minor, Persia, Egypt, Cyprus and Corfu.

[2] Although primarily an entomologist, Olivier also worked in the scientific field of herpetology, describing several new species of Asian lizards.

Olivier was the author of Coléoptères Paris Baudouin 1789–1808 (11 editions),[4] Entomologie, ou histoire naturelle des Insectes (1808) and Le Voyage dans l'Empire Othoman, l'Égypte et la Perse (1807).