The olive-capped coua was formally described in 1873 by the English ornithologist Richard Bowdler Sharpe under the binomial name Sericosomus olivaceiceps.

Sharpe specified the type locality as southwestern Madagascar.

He had been sent a specimen by the French naturalist Alfred Grandidier.

[4] The specific epithet olivaceiceps combines the Modern Latin olivaceus meaning "olive-coloured" with Latin -ceps meaning "capped".

It was elevated to species status based on differences in plumage and vocalisation.