Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men's bodybuilding contest in the open division at Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend—an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually and is sanctioned by the IFBB Professional League.

[3] Joe Weider created the contest to enable the amateur Mr. Universe winners to continue competing and to earn money.

The first Mr. Olympia was held on September 18, 1965, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City, with Larry Scott winning his first of two straight titles.

The film Pumping Iron (1977) featured the buildup to the 1975 Mr. Olympia in Pretoria, South Africa, and helped launch the acting careers of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, and Franco Columbu.

At 5 ft 10 ins and 240 lbs[13] Oliva, nicknamed "The Myth",[10] displayed an unforeseen level of muscle mass and definition, including a "V" shape of a large and a well-formed upper-body that tapered down to a narrow waist.

[15] With the emergence of a performance enhancing drug called Dianabol in 1958, bodybuilders began experimenting more with the idea of unnatural ways to improve their physiques as well as intensify their training regimens.

He defeated Oliva again in 1972, and went on to win the next three Mr. Olympia competitions, including the 1975 edition, which was highlighted in the 1977 docudrama Pumping Iron and featured other notable bodybuilders such as Lou Ferrigno, Serge Nubret, and Franco Columbu, who would go on to win the 1976 and 1981 competitions.

Schwarzenegger (who was supposedly training for the film Conan the Barbarian) had been a late entry into the competition, and his competitors did not know of his intentions to compete.

This seventh victory was especially controversial, as most fellow competitors and observers felt that he lacked both muscle mass and conditioning, and shouldn't have won over Chris Dickerson or Mike Mentzer.

[21] From 1984 to 1991, Lee Haney won eight consecutive Mr. Olympia titles, setting a record that was later tied by Ronnie Coleman.

Dorian is given credit for revolutionizing the sport during his reign as Mr. Olympia by combining larger mass than seen before with what was dubbed "granite hardness".

[26] Ronnie Coleman won the Mr. Olympia competition eight consecutive times from 1998 to 2005,[10] tying the record set by Lee Haney.

Coleman, nicknamed "The King", is widely regarded as the greatest bodybuilder in Olympia history and began the mass monster era.

With his 2017 win, Heath tied Arnold Schwarzenegger for second most Olympia victories, behind Lee Haney and Ronnie Coleman who won eight.

[9] According to the official website as of March 2022, the event is presented in regions with a specific organization around the world: India, Pakistan, Eastern Europe, Beijing (China), Spain, Portugal, Brazil, South Korea, Italy, Japan, South America, Las Vegas (USA).