Olivier Tébily

Tébily began his career as a junior at Division 2 club Niort, where he spent several years. In January 1998, he moved to Châteauroux, promoted that season to Division 1. While his contribution failed to prevent their relegation, it clearly attracted favourable attention, because the following March, Steve Bruce signed him for English club Sheffield United for a fee of £200,000. His Sheffield United career proved brief. His seventh game for the club was watched by Kenny Dalglish, and on Dalglish's appointment as Director of Football at Celtic in June 1999, he was quick to bring Tébily to the club for a fee of £1.25 million. On 8 July, he became manager John Barnes' third signing.

Celtic

Tébily marked his first Celtic appearance, in a pre-season game against Leeds United, by scoring an own goal, an early indication of the sometimes erratic nature of his performances which earned him the nickname "Bombscare" from the Celtic fans. The next pre-season game, this time against Newcastle United, saw him redeem himself by scoring at the right end, and also by a good defensive performance against Alan Shearer. He held down a regular starting spot until Christmas, when he joined up with the Ivory Coast national team for the 2000 African Cup of Nations. His return from his country's unsuccessful campaign was delayed when the squad was detained in a military camp in the Ivory Coast, described by the authorities as a necessary move to ensure the players' safety in light of the…

According to RSSSF, Tébily represented the France national under-21 football team ("Les Espoirs") at the 1997 Mediterranean Games, being sent off in a 3–0 defeat by Greece. However Le Télégramme reported that Tébily had been withdrawn from the squad on the eve of the tournament, to be replaced by Stéphane Pichot of Laval.

Tébily was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and raised in France. As a child, he was an Arsenal fan. He became a naturalised French citizen.

After retirement, Tébily decided to spend this second life to realize his long time dream to become the first African wine grower and to produce his own cognac Source deux vie as a tribute to his country.