Olivier is a violinist by training, a reformed fiddler and a passionate guitarist. He started playing chamber music, then jazz. His great versatility led him to work with several artists (Le Cirque du Soleil, La Bottine souriante, Väsen, Michel Faubert, Breabach, Dervish, etc.).
Olivier has been dedicating his life to traditional folk music for more than 25 years. He is a founding member of Le Vent du Nord (over 2,000 shows around the world, 11 albums, 2 Félix Awards, 2 Juno Awards, 2 Canadian Folk Music Awards, Best Traditional Band in North America at the 2007 Folk Alliance Conference, Grand Prix du Disque Charles-Cros 2012, etc.).
He also played in the trio MontcorbieR and the duo Boulerice-Demers (2 albums, with
Un peu d’ci, un peu d’ça being awarded Best Trad Album in Canada in 2006) with his old partner Nicolas Boulerice. Recently his duo partner of choice has been Simon Proulx. Olivier is a studio enthusiast. He has earned a credit on over 75 albums, either as a musician, coproducer or producer. He is also deeply engaged in the shadows of traditional folk music as a co-founder and organizer of La Veillée de l’avant Veille (25
th edition in 2022), the Chants de Vielles Festival, and the record company Roues et Archets. He was a co-instigator of the Albion sessions in Joliette and published a major collection of tunes from Quebec and French-speaking America:
1000 airs du Québec et de l’Amérique francophone — TOME I.