After graduating from the Indiana University School of Medicine in 1969, Olvey volunteered to help the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway medical staff at that years'
Indianapolis 500. Olvey noticed the lack of adequate equipment to treat potential injured drivers and would quickly build a relationship with track medical director
Dr. Tom Hanna to introduce proper medical equipment to the medical building. Olvey worked with Hanna to begin assigning doctors to response vehicles for the first time at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In 1975, Olvey was hired by USAC as medical director to implement standards–such as permanent medical buildings and standardized rescue vehicles–that would be used at every USAC Champ Car race for the first time, not solely the Indianapolis 500. In 1979, when CART was formed and
split away from USAC, Olvey was hired to be CART's medical director, a position he would hold until 2004. Under his direction, Olvey advocated for and implemented several rule changes to improve the safety of drivers. Following
Johnny Rutherford's crash at Phoenix in
1980, Olvey pushed for a rule change to prevent pit crew members from running on to the race track to assist drivers involved in accidents. Olvey played a major role in the recovery of
Roberto Guerrero after a crash testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1987. Guerrero suffered a
diffuse axonal injury; Olvey placed Guerrero under a coma for 17 days to reduce the swelling of his brain, with the medication used dropping Guerrero's blood pressure dangerously low. Guerrero would recover from his injury and would continue his racing career. In 1999, Olvey introduced the concept of installing micro-
accelerometers in drivers' earplugs to measure the
g-forces of a driver at any given time. Development lasted for three years and was implemented for every driver in CART and the
Indy Racing League for their respective 2003 seasons. Following the deaths of
Jovy Marcelo in 1992,
Gonzalo Rodríguez and
Greg Moore in 1999 due to head injuries, Olvey worked with
Christian Fittipaldi during off-season testing to introduce the
HANS device to CART for the 2000 season.
2001 Texas race cancellation A race at
Texas Motor Speedway was scheduled to take place during the
2001 season for the first time in CART history. After concerns that the cars were too fast for a high-banked oval like Texas, numerous tests had lap speeds between and . On race weekend, top practice lap speeds were in excess of with
Kenny Brack qualifying first with a lap speed of . Concerns of the speeds started after Friday practice. Olvey initially thought that two drivers who had pulled in to the pits during Friday practice were experiencing
inner-ear problems after flying. On Saturday afternoon, when
Patrick Carpentier visited Olvey for a check up, Carpentier noted that he could not walk or stand for four minutes after exiting his car. The 2001 Firestone Firehawk 600 would be the only race in CART history to be cancelled for safety concerns. Olvey, watching from the infield care center, immediately thought he witnessed a double-fatality. Olvey gave an emotional interview during Zanardi's run, crediting the safety team and Zanardi's perseverance. ==Outside racing and post-CART career==