Heinrich Olivier

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Heinrich Olivier (2 July 1783 – 3 March 1848) was a German painter, illustrator and graphic artist. He was born in Dessau to Ludwig Heinrich Ferdinand Olivier, a teacher, and Louise Neidhart, an opera singer. His brothers Ferdinand and Friedrich also became painters.

From 1801 to 1802 he studied art with Carl Wilhelm Kolbe and Christian Haldenwang, and from 1801 he studied philology at the University of Leipzig. He probably also studied at the Academy of Arts there.

In 1803 he traveled with his brother to Dresden, and in 1807 he moved to Paris, where he copied the Old Masters at the Louvre. Apart from a brief return to Paris in 1810, he lived in Dessau until 1813.

In 1813 he joined the Russian-German Legion as an officer. After the campaign he returned to Vienna and earned a living by illustrating popular magazines. There was a rumor that he was close to the writer Dorothea von Schlegel, who was older.

Financial troubles forced him back to Dessau, where it became hard to support himself with his art. He later moved to Berlin, where he worked as a drawing and language teacher. He died in Berlin at the age of 65.