Darius Olaru

Gaz Metan Mediaș

Olaru made his senior debut for Gaz Metan Mediaș on 29 August 2015, appearing in a 2–1 away win over UTA Arad in the second division. He amassed twelve games and scored two goals during the campaign, as his hometown club returned to the Liga I after only one year of absence. Olaru recorded his debut in the latter competition on 19 September 2016, in a 2–0 victory against defending champions Astra Giurgiu. On 23 May 2017, he scored his first league goal from the penalty spot in a 3–0 defeat of Concordia Chiajna.

FCSB

In early 2018, Olaru signed a precontract with fellow Liga I side FCSB, but the move initially fell through after a transfer fee could not be agreed upon. In May the following year, the capital-based reinstated its interest and signed him for an undisclosed sum, with the deal seeing him join up with the squad at the start of 2020. FCSB reportedly outbid CFR Cluj for the transfer of Olaru, where he was highly regarded by manager Dan Petrescu. Olaru was officially unveiled as a FCSB player on 7 January 2020, and was assigned the number 27 jersey. He made his first appearance for the Roș-albaștrii in a 0–1 loss to CFR Cluj on 2 February, and four days later scored the opener in a 2–1 win over Voluntari. On 27 August 2020, Olaru made his debut in European competitions by starting and scoring in the 3–0 win over Shirak counting for the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. Following the conclusion of his first full season at the…

Youth

Olaru received his first call-up for the Romania national under-21 team in September 2018, and on 15 November that year scored in a 3–3 friendly draw with Belgium in Cluj-Napoca. He was subsequently selected in Mirel Rădoi's squad for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, where he played two matches in the group stage and was an unused substitute in the 2–4 defeat to Germany in the semi-finals. Olaru's age also made him eligible for the 2021 edition of the European Championship, where head coach Adrian Mutu started him in all three fixtures of the group stage. Romania finished with the same number of points as the Netherlands and Germany, but could not progress to the knockout stage because of head-to-head points and overall goal difference.

Senior

Following Olaru's good display throughout the 2020–21 season, Mirel Rădoi—who was in the meantime promoted to the senior national team—handed him his full debut on 2 June 2021, in a 1–2 friendly loss to Georgia. Olaru amassed six games in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, entering mostly as a substitute as Romania finished its group in first place. On 7 June 2024, he was named in the squad for the final tournament. Olaru entered as a substitute in both the 0–2 loss to Belgium in the group stage and in the 0–3 loss to the Netherlands in the round of 16.

Initially deployed as an attacking midfielder or a winger, Olaru developed into more of a box-to-box midfielder after joining FCSB. Romanian manager Ioan Sabău described him as "a player who is physically and mentally involved [in his team], both defends and attacks, also has physical strength and appears earnest". Although naturally right-footed, Olaru can score with either foot due to his ambidexterity.

Olaru's parents left Romania in order to work abroad and got divorced at some point during his childhood, leaving him mainly in the care of his grandparents. He stated that he was an ardent supporter of Dinamo București growing up. In May 2025, Olaru wed his long-time partner Cristina Pădurean, a civil law notary, with the couple sharing images from their wedding ceremony on social media.