Katherine Ann Olivier (née Ricks; born November 6, 1959) is an American college basketball coach who most recently was the women's basketball head coach at

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...

. She resigned from that position on March 6, 2020.

Early life and education

Born Katherine Ann Ricks in Los Angeles County, Olivier graduated from Valencia High School in

Placentia, California Placentia () is a city in northern Orange County, California. The population was 51,233 during the 2020 census, up from 46,488 in the 2000 census. This includes the community of Atwood, which is included in the city of Placentia, and is loca ...

in 1977. As Kathy Ricks, Olivier played collegiate basketball and tennis at

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

from 1977 to 1979 and

basketball from 1979 to 1981. She was the leading scorer in both her seasons at Cal State Fullerton, averaging 15.6 points and 9.2 rebounds as a freshman In her fourth consecutive year as her team's leading scorer, Olivier averaged 20.2 points and 9.2 rebounds as a senior in 1980–81. Olivier graduated from UNLV in 1981 with a degree in physical education.

Coaching career

Assistant coach (1981–1993)

Olivier began her coaching career in 1981 as a graduate assistant at UNLV, followed by a season as an assistant coach at

UC Irvine UC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * '' University Challenge'', a popular British quiz programme airing on BBC Two ** ''University Challenge (New Zealand)'', the New Zealand version of the British programme * Universal Century, one of the t ...

in 1982–83. From 1983 to 1986, Olivier was an assistant coach at USC under

Linda Sharp Linda Kay Sharp (born March 14, 1950) is an American former collegiate women's basketball coach. Her coaching career spans 31 seasons with stints on all levels from elementary, junior high and high school to the collegiate and professional ranks, ...

, including USC's 1984 national championship team. Olivier moved to rival

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

as an assistant coach under Billie Moore in 1986. In seven seasons with Olivier on the staff, UCLA had five winning seasons and two NCAA Tournament appearances, including a run to the Sweet 16 in 1992.

UCLA (1993–2008)

Following Moore's resignation, UCLA promoted Olivier to head coach on May 3, 1993. In 15 seasons at UCLA, Olivier went 232–208, with the program's first Pac-10 regular season title in 1999 and first Pac-10 Tournament title in 2006. UCLA made five NCAA Tournaments (1998–2000, 2004, 2006), with its most successful run being to the Elite Eight in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

. Following a 16–15 season, Olivier resigned from UCLA on March 11, 2008.

UNLV (2008–2020)

Returning to her alma mater, Olivier became women's basketball head coach at UNLV on April 22, 2008. After losing records for the first three seasons, UNLV went 22–10 in 2011–12 with a second place finish in the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is one of the collegiate athletic conferences affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A). The MW officially began operations ...

and WNIT appearance. Since the 2011–12 season, UNLV has always had .500 or better records in Mountain West play, but UNLV's next season with an overall winning record was in 2015–16 with an 18–14 finish. In 2016–17, UNLV had its second straight winning overall season at 22–11 (12–6 MW) and made the WNIT for its second postseason appearance under Olivier.
After 12 years as UNLV head coach, Olivier resigned as head coach on March 6, 2020.

Head coaching record

Sources:

Personal life

Olivier has a daughter, Alexis, and coached her at UCLA from 2006 to 2008. She was previously married to chemical engineer Jim Olivier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olivier, Kathy 1959 births Living people American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from California Basketball players from Orange County, California Cal State Fullerton Titans women's basketball players People from Placentia, California Basketball players from Los Angeles County, California UC Irvine Anteaters women's basketball coaches UCLA Bruins women's basketball coaches UNLV Lady Rebels basketball coaches UNLV Lady Rebels basketball players USC Trojans women's basketball coaches Forwards (basketball)