After graduating from the Ecole Normale Superieure de Cachan, France, Olivier obtained his PhD on the hydromechnical behaviour of contact between geomaterials in Grenoble in 2004. He moved to The University of Newcastle, to work with Prof. Fityus and Prof. Sloan, as a post doctoral researcher in October 2005. He became Lecturer in 2007, Senior Lecturer in 2009 and Associate Professor in 2012.