The Rolls-Royce Olympus turbojet engine was developed extensively throughout its production run, the many variants can be described as belonging to four main groups.

The first afterburning variant, the Bristol Siddeley Olympus Mk 320, powered the cancelled BAC TSR-2 strike aircraft.

The engine, which was re-stressed for supersonic flight at sea level, and over Mach 2.0 at altitude, and featured much use of high-temperature alloys such as titanium and Nimonic,[27] was a cutting edge derivative of the Olympus Mk 301 with a Solar-type afterburner.

[28] The engine first ran in March 1961, soon achieving 33,000 lbf (150 kN),[27] and was test flown in February 1962 in an underslung nacelle in the belly of Vulcan B1 XA894 and was demonstrated at the Farnborough Air Show in September.

The liberated turbine disc ruptured fuel tanks and the subsequent fire completely destroyed the Vulcan.

[34] Fully variable reheat became possible after an agreement with the Solar Aircraft Company of San Diego which manufactured bench units for the Olympus Mks 101 and 102.