Olea (/ˈoʊliə/ OH-lee-ə[3]) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Oleaceae.

[2] They are evergreen trees and shrubs, with small, opposite, entire leaves.

[4] For humans, the most important and familiar species is by far the olive (Olea europaea), native to the Mediterranean region, Africa, southwest Asia, and the Himalayas,[5][6] which is the type species of the genus.

The native olive (O. paniculata) is a larger tree, attaining a height of 15–18 m in the forests of Queensland, and yielding a hard and tough timber.

The yet harder wood of the black ironwood O. capensis, an inhabitant of Natal, is important in South Africa.