Ivica Olić

Early career

Olić was born and raised in the village of Davor near Slavonski Brod, Croatia. He started playing football for the local club NK Marsonia in 1996, and spent two good seasons there, before he was acquired by German club Hertha BSC in 1998. He did not see much play there and returned to Marsonia the following year, where he earned promotion to the top flight after winning the Croatian Second League with his team. After another successful season at Marsonia, in the 2000–01 season, he scored 17 goals in 29 games – in 2001, he moved to NK Zagreb on loan, where he scored 21 goals in 28 appearances and helped his team win the league. The following season, he was transferred to Dinamo Zagreb, where he scored 16 goals in 27 games, and became the best striker in the Croatian First League.

CSKA Moscow

In 2003, Olić was acquired by CSKA Moscow. His form rose gradually, and in the 2005 season, he contributed with ten goals in twice as many games. With CSKA Moscow, he won the UEFA Cup in 2005, the Russian Premier League three times (in 2003, 2005 and 2006), the Russian Cup twice (in 2005 and 2006), and twice the Russian Super Cup (2004 and 2006). After winning the UEFA Cup, Olić was awarded with the Order of Friendship by the Russian Federation.

Hamburger SV

In January 2007, Olić moved to Hamburger SV, playing his first Bundesliga match with them against Energie Cottbus on 31 January. He was signed because Hamburg were in deep trouble, finishing…

Olić was part of the Croatia national team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, where he played in two games and scored one important goal against Italy in a 2–1 Croatia victory. Shortly after scoring, Olić revealed a picture of his newly born child at the time under his jersey. He was remembered as being unable to put his jersey back on, as the material became tangled in the excitement during his celebration. Olić also played three games for Croatia at UEFA Euro 2004 and two games at the 2006 World Cup. In September 2006, Olić was dropped from the Croatian squad for a Euro 2008 qualifying match for one game, due to a late-night partying binge together with Darijo Srna and Boško Balaban. He was named man of the match in the very last qualifier of their group, in which Croatia defeated England 3–2 at Wembley Stadium. He was named in Croatia's 23-man squad for the final tournament, and scored in their second Group B match against Germany to give the Croats a 2–1 shock win over the pre-tournament favourites. Olić was recalled to the side for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. He contributed with three goals in eight games, but Croatia missed out on a play-off spot by a point. Olić was injured in a friendly match against Norway, which was the cause of his last-moment absence in Euro 2012. On 22 March 2013, Olić scored his first goal since November 2011 and assisted Mario Mandžukić in a qualifier for the 2014 World Cup against Serbia. In the opening game of the finals, on 12 June, his…

On 23 October 2017, Olić was presented as an assistant coach of newly appointed Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalić ahead of a World Cup qualifier against Greece. In late March 2021, Sport-Express and Sportske novosti published a story about Olić succeeding Viktor Goncharenko at his former club CSKA Moscow. The rumours were confirmed by Croatia head coach Dalić to Sportske novosti. His assistant coaches were rumoured to be Miloš Krasić and Elvir Rahimić. The appointment was made official on 23 March 2021. The move was met with skepticism due to Olić's inexperience in the head coach job. Despite earlier rumours, Krasić and Rahimić were not hired as assistant coaches, instead Ilija Aračić was hired as an assistant coach, with previously hired Aleksei Berezutski and Dmitry Kramarenko rounding up the coaching staff. He made his debut on 4 April, in the 2–1 league victory over Tambov. After two more victories, Olić suffered his first defeat in his fourth match, 2–1 loss to Sochi on 18 April. On 25 April, he suffered his third defeat in a row after losing 1–0 to Spartak Moscow in his first Main Moscow derby, with CSKA's Ilzat Akhmetov getting sent off in the 37th minute. After losing 3–2 to Dynamo Moscow on 16 May, Olić finished the season in sixth place, with CSKA missing out on European competitions for the first time in 20 years. He was unexpectedly sacked on 15 June and succeeded by Berezutski, returning to Zlatko Dalić's team for the UEFA Euro 2020.

Olić and his Croatian-German wife Natalie have two sons and a daughter, named Luka, Antonio and Lara, respectively. Unlike many of his counterparts, he prefers to keep a low media profile and generally lives a quiet private life.