[1] The R504 Kolyma Highway crosses the Ola about 40 km (25 mi) north of its mouth.

[2] The river has its source in the Olsky Plateau, at the eastern end of the Upper Kolyma Highlands, 30 km (19 mi) southwest of Atka at an elevation of 1,160 metres (3,810 ft).

Its last stretch is among wetlands between Magadan and Lake Chistoye.

Finally it flows in the Taui Bay of the Sea of Okhotsk.

The main tributary of the Ola is the Lankovaya that joins it in its lower course from the left.