Ollie (skateboarding)

In 1978, Alan Gelfand, who was given his nickname "Ollie" by Scott Goodman, learned to perform frontside no-handed aerials in bowls and pools using a gentle raising of the nose and scooping motion to keep the board with the feet.

An April 1981 issue of Thrasher notes the vert ollie was quickly adapted to flatground use, observing that "skaters now hop effortlessly from street to sidewalk with just a tap of the tail.

"[4] In 1982, while competing in the Rusty Harris contest in Whittier, California, Rodney Mullen debuted an ollie on flat ground, which he had adapted from Gelfand's vertical version by combining the motions of some of his existing tricks.

[2] While Mullen was not initially impressed with his flat ground ollie, and did not formally name it, the trick is now considered to have transformed the practice of skateboarding.

The more energetically one pushes on the rear end of the skateboard, and the more friction generated by the foot sliding along the board, the higher the athlete will travel.

The highest unofficial ollie was 46.1 inches (117.0 cm) performed by Jack Asani at Hyde park, Sydney, Australia on the 4th of June 2023 in a small event held by Integrity Skateboard company.