[2] Born Katherine Ann Ricks in Los Angeles County, Olivier graduated from Valencia High School in Placentia, California in 1977.
[5][6] In her fourth consecutive year as her team's leading scorer, Olivier averaged 20.2 points and 9.2 rebounds as a senior in 1980–81.
[9] Returning to her alma mater, Olivier became women's basketball head coach at UNLV on April 22, 2008.
[7] After losing records for the first three seasons, UNLV went 22–10 in 2011–12 with a second place finish in the Mountain West Conference and WNIT appearance.
[7] In 2016–17, UNLV had its second straight winning overall season at 22–11 (12–6 MW) and made the WNIT for its second postseason appearance under Olivier.