[4] In addition to his innovative print publishing, he is a recognized pioneering cultural influence at the dawn of the electronic era during the Digital Revolution.

His early blogs[5] garnered notoriety, and featured highly stylized photographs taken by him, that took his audience on daily tours of his fantasyland populated by the artists, intellectuals, designers, filmmakers, socialites, models and celebrities who regularly appeared in his magazine.

[9] His online activity served as an early electronic precursor to popular social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

[14] Much of his early childhood was spent in academic settings, particularly- during the volatile period of civil unrest in France that broke out in May 1968.

The unrest began with a series of student occupation protests against capitalism, consumerism, American imperialism, and traditional institutions, values and order.

He leveraged his profound formative experience using it as a tool to build aspects and themes that remain prevalent in his personal and professional life in adulthood.

He told The New York Times in 2010 that he, "remembers summers spent vacationing in the South of France with his parents in a community of like minded free spirits"[15] – who he labeled hippies.

[18] His father, Claude, taught philosophy, and Zahm was on track to do the same, before realizing, at 25, that he preferred life outside "la tour d’ ivoire.

Over the next decade they continued to curate several shows together around the world, including "June" in 1993 at the Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris,"BEIGE" in 1996 at Saga Basement in Copenhagen and "La Voie Lactée" in 1998 at Alleged Gallery in New York City.

These housed the likes of many renowned creatives across disciplines, including Maurizio Cattelan, Wolfgang Tillmans, Jean-Luc Vilmouth, and Claude Closky.

Notably in 2000, Zahm and Fleiss curated the exposition "Elysian Fields" at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and printed a subsequent catalogue publication under the same name, displaying works from the likes of Gerard Richter and Richard Prince to Rei Kawakubo and Andrea Zittel — artists that have continued to collaborate with Zahm in exhibitions and within Purple's magazine publications.

[27][28][29][30] More recent shows included "La Force de L'Art" in 2006 at Le Grand Palais in Paris, and "To Paint is to Love Again" at Los Angeles gallery Nino Mier, addressing the state of art in the digital age with works from prominent artists like Urs Fischer, Vanessa Beecroft and Paul McCarthy.

His countless exhibitions have embodied the same vision as the rest of his creative pursuits, comprehending art in a radically cultural, counter-institutional context.

In 1992 Zahm and his partner Elien Fleiss printed the first issue of Purple Prose, a Parisian literary art zine.

[44] A typical issue featured interviews, articles and presentations covering a wide range of topics and disciplines which include; film and video, politics, fashion, architecture, sexuality, science, photography and music.

Each issue was built around a loose theme which serves to create a link between subjects-past examples have been: Indian Summer, Violet Violence, Post-Sex.

[45][8][22] For many years the magazine was associated with a realist esthetic, that of the new photography of the early 1990s- of photographers like Juergen Teller, Terry Richardson, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Mario Sorrenti.

From a visual standpoint, the magazine represented a break from 80s imagery (like Richard Avedon’s photography for Versace, for example.

The magazine was an integral part of this burgeoning context, which included the deconstruction of fashion by Martin Margiela[47] and Comme des Garçsons;[48] the return of subtle political art, with that of Felix Gonzalez- Torres, Maurizio Cattelan, and Philippe Parreno, among others; photography of Juergen Teller; and Harmony Korine and Larry Clark’s independent filmmaking.

For its 25th anniversary issue,[43] Purple celebrated the artists and models who incarnated the spirit of the magazine through their style, attitude, and personality: Cindy Sherman, Wolfgang Tillmans, Chloe Savigny, Richard Prince, Paul McCarthy, Susan Cianciolo, Maurizio Cattelan, and more.

[58][59] In the year 2000, Serge July, the founder and editor-in-chief of French national newspaper Libération hired Olivier Zahm to launch Liberation Style,[60][18] an occasional Saturday supplement to the main paper.

[69][70][71][72] In addition to documenting his personal life on social media platform he continues to shoot many editorials and campaigns for various brands including Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Uniqlo, Agent Provocateur, and magazines including Lui, Vogue Russia, and Kadewe among others.