Born in 1961, Olivier Charlier won first prizes in violin and chamber music at the Paris National Conservatoire. During this time he met Nadia Boulanger and worked with Yehudi Menuhin and Henryk Szeryng, the latter offering him a special personal scholarship in 1976.

Charlier won prizes in five of the most prestigious international violin competitions, and it was these victories which enabled him to give concerts all over the world: in Europe, the United States of America, Canada, South America, Japan and Australia where he toured with great success last season. He also enjoys chamber music, giving recitals regularly with pianist Brigitte Engerer.

Olivier Charlier has appeared as soloist with many orchestras including the Orchestre de Paris, the Berlin Symphony, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, the Residentie Orchestra of the Hague, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Württemberg Chamber, the Radio Orchestras of Munich, Hamburg and Saarbrücken and the Netherlands, Prague and Monte Carlo Philharmonics. In early 1996 he made his London début in two concerts with the London Philharmonic under Sergiu Comissiona and was immediately invited to return later in the season. Also a regular visitor with the BBC Philharmonic, BBC Welsh, Bournemouth Symphony, Halle and Ulster Orchestras, Charlier made his BBC Prom début in 1996 with the BBC Philharmonic and Yan Pascal Tortelier playing the Dutilleux Violin Concerto, which they subsequently recorded for Chandos. Charlier performed the Concerto again with the Hallé Orchestra at the Dutilleux Festival last autumn.

Olivier Charlier has many recordings to his credit. On Erato, the two Mendelssohn Concertos (Monte Carlo Philharmonic/Lawrence Foster); the complete violin and piano works by Saint-Saens with Jean Hubeau; the sonatas by Debussy, Franck, Vierne and Pierne (Collection MusiFrance). For Harmonia Mundi, works by Schumann and Grieg with Brigitte Engerer plus a further disc of Beethoven to be released later this year. For ADDA, a disc of French works for violin and orchestra (Chausson, Ravel, Saint-Saens, Fauré and Massenet) with the Orchestre Symphonique Français. This season he has again recorded for Chandos the Roberto Gerhard Violin Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Matthias Bamert.

Since 1981 Charlier has been Professor of the Violin at the Paris Conservatoire.