After graduating from Sydney University Professor Ollis completed a Post-doctoral period at Yale and then held faculty position at Northwestern University.

He has since held positions at Yale University (1980-1985), Northwestern University Evanston (1986-1991) before his appointment as Senior Fellow in the Research School of Chemistry.

He was awarded a fellow of the American Institute of Chemistry (1987) and the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute Award (2005).

He was promoted to Professor at the Research School of Chemistry in 2005.