Jean-Baptiste Joseph Olive studied with Antoine Vollon and Gustave Marius Julien. He specialised in painting Mediterranean coastal scenes and harbours, and also painted in Venice. He first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1874, winning an honourable mention in 1882, a third-class medal in 1885, a second in 1886 and a silver in 1889 at the Exposition Universelle. He became a member of the Société des Artistes Français (founded 1881), a Chevalier of the Légion d'Honneur in 1899, an Officier of the Légion d'Honneur in 1923, and in 1930 a member of the judging panel and of the committee, when he was also declared hors concours and awarded the Bonnat prize.

Museum and Gallery Holdings

Aix-en-Provence: Venice, the Piazzetta
Algiers: Steamer Entering La Joliette Harbour
Béziers: Fruit
Nîmes: Rocks at Le Flan
Paris (Mus. d'Orsay): The Villefranche Roads, Evening