[3] Israel was born in Drogheda and raised in Dundalk along with his older sister Sharon, though he made three trips to his parents' homeland during his upbringing.

"[6] Olatunde took up competitive sprinting under coach Gerry McArdle during his first year at St Mary's College, Dundalk,[2][5] where he would go on to earn his Leaving Certificate in June 2019.

[7] Olatunde also joined his first athletics club, Dúndealgan AC, representing them at the Louth Championships in the under-17 category at age 14.

[5] He enrolled at University College Dublin in 2019,[2] studying computer science on an Ad Astra Elite scholarship.

[17] Olatunde was selected to represent Ireland at the European Youth Olympic Festival in July, competing in the 100 m and the Swedish medley relay.

[29] After capturing the national U23 title in a championship-record time of 6.63 s,[30] Olatunde travelled to Serbia to compete in the 60 m event at the World Championships.

[34] On 2 June, Olatunde improved his time to 10.27 s, setting a national U23 record and moving him into third-place on the Irish all-time list.

[37] On 15 August, Olatunde ran a new personal best of 10.19 s in the 100 metres preliminary round at the 2022 European Athletics Championships, breaking his own U23 national record.