Initially he studied natural sciences at Montpellier, and in 1851 began work as medical interne at Lyon Hospital.

He became internationally known for developing techniques involving bone-resection, and is remembered for his extensive research of regeneration of bone by the periosteum following resection.

On 24 June 1894 Ollier was awarded commander of the Légion d'Honneur by French president Marie-François-Sadi Carnot.

Ironically, later that evening Carnot was stabbed by an assassin, and Ollier was summoned to tend to the dying president's wounds.

Today, the museum of pathological anatomy at the University of Lyon is named in Ollier's honor.