Ollie Smith's father was a Timorese pearl diver and her mother was an Aboriginal woman living in Broome. At the age of three, Ollie was separated from her mother and put in the Holy Child Orphanage. She worked as a Project Officer for the Centre of Aboriginal Studies at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. In 1996, she presented a submission on behalf of the girls at the orphanage at a hearing in Broome held by the Human Rights Commission conducting the Stolen Children's enquiry which resulted in progressive recommendations to the Catholic church.

Ollie is one of the authors of Raging Partners Two Worlds, One Friendship. This book is no longer in print.