Olavs graduated from the University of Tartu in 1892 with a degree in theology, and from 1895 to 1897 he taught in Riga, but was banned from lecturing after expressing his liberal views.

Further writings and editings of his included "Latvju vēsturi līdz 12. gadsimta beigām" ("Latvian History up to the end of the 12th century") and "Sēta, Daba, Pasaule" ("The Farmstead, Nature, and The Earth").

As the editor of several journals, such as "Baltija" (published in St Petersburg), his commentary was widely read by the Latvian population.

Olavs wrote "Galvenos virzienus ētikā" (Today's Trends in Ethics) while in prison (1908–1909), a sharp jab against those responsible for his incarceration.

Olavs died in sanatorium in Vyborg, Finland in 1917, and was re-buried at the Forest Cemetery in Riga in 1921, where a monument was built in his honor in 1927.