Born in 1946 at London, England, Olive is a businessman in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Olive was nominated as the Progressive Conservative candidate for Dartmouth South in the 1999 election. On July 27, 1999, Olive was elected MLA, defeating New Democrat incumbent Don Chard by 645 votes. On August 18, 1999, Olive was named chair of the government's caucus.
On June 17, 2002, Olive was appointed to the Executive Council of Nova Scotia as Minister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Emergency Measures Act. Olive was defeated by New Democrat Marilyn More when he ran for re-election in 2003, losing by more than 1,000 votes in the new riding of Dartmouth South-Portland Valley. Olive ran again in the 2006 election, but was again defeated by More.
