As a 19-year-old, Olive competed in the men's sprint at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland.[1] In his heat, he defeated E. Evans from Rhodesia and Canadian John Millman, and went on to beat Tommy Godwin 2–0 in the quarterfinals.[2] In the semifinals, he lost 0–2 to the eventual gold medallist, Russell Mockridge from Australia,[3] and then in the ride-off for the bronze medal he was beaten 2–1 by his New Zealand teammate Graham Avery.[4]