Olivier Barthelemy lives and works in Paris. After working for a long time as a cinematographer, he switched to directing his own documentaries in 2008 with a subject on Alzheimer's disease, broadcast on the TV program “Strip-tease”.

In 2013, he was one of the awarded for the first “Infracourts” competition launched by France-TV with a 3-minute documentary on Kader, a homeless man. From 2015 to 2020, he traveled the world for the documentary series “Invitation au voyage” broadcast on Arte.

He later expanded his work to cinematography and writing. In 2023 he wrote and directed a short film, “Le repas des animaux”, which attracted attention at numerous festivals abroad, notably in Berlin and Los Angeles, with two awards at the Hollywood Short Fest, Best Foreign Film and Best Director of a First Film.