Rolland, whose father was an engineer and director of the coal mines in the region, began his secondary education at the lycée (high school) of Angers, then that of Meaux, and finally the famous Collège-lycée Jacques-Decour in Paris, then called the Collège Rollin, where he took the baccalauréat.

[1] Meanwhile, Rolland developed an extreme passion for mathematics to such an extent that his health suffered and he was forced to give it up and take a break.

[1][3] In Paris he became friendly with the pharmacologist and mycologist Émile Boudier, who was later to write his obituary in the Bulletin of the Société mycologique de France.

Rolland was an enthusiastic member of the latter society, never missing a conference, and published numerous papers in its bulletin; also he was president for a time.

He was able to live from his investments and made mycological trips in France and abroad, for instance to Chamonix, Morocco, Algeria, and the Balearic Islands including the valley of Sóller.