When the high school opened it was in the rural outskirts of Southwest Charlotte in the Steele Creek community.

[6] Students, at first skeptical and not wanting to be separated from friends, have taken a liking to Olympic's more intimate atmosphere that has afforded principals to get to know them by name.

For instance, generic courses driven by multiple-choice tests being replaced with challenging projects linked to real-life results.

This involves a certain degree of experimentation and creativity that can be hobbled by district mandates, too many teachers relying on routine, budget restraints, and a test-driven culture instituted by an array of local and national achievement exams.

Attendance for athletic events in 2006–07 was the highest since 1982,[11] and a multi-million capital campaign was started by parents and community residents for facility improvements.

[12][13] The most recent incarnation of this fundraising is the Olympic High School Foundation, which raised $276,500 in 2015.

For comparison, Olympic has an ethnic makeup of 44.3% Black, 34.4% White, 14.2% Hispanic, 6.0% Asian, and 1.2% Other (in the 2005–06 school year).

[16] Its pass rate on the 2006–07 North Carolina End-of-Course tests, used to sample knowledge and mastery of subject areas most students take as freshmen and sophomores, was 63.2%, near the CMS average of 65.7%.

[21] The women's outdoor track and field team won the NCHSAA 4A state championship in 2000 and 2021.