He represented the Soviet Union at the 1980 Summer Olympics, but failed to reach the final.
Olizarenko was born in Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukrainian SSR on 9 September 1954, and in 1968 moved to Odessa.
At the 1980 Olympic semi-final he tore an Achilles tendon and had to abandon the race.
[3] In 1978 Olizarenko met the middle-distance runner Nadezhda Mushta.
[3] Olizarenko died in Odessa, Ukraine on 18 December 2024, at the age of 70.