September 27, 1944: Birth of French singer Gilles Olivier. Particularly discreet about his biography, little is known about Gilles Olivier, whose real name is Oliviers. After attending several boarding schools, he completed his military service in Germany and then in Algeria. He was particularly interested in music and learned the guitar with the renowned Olivier Despax. He then began to compose songs and reached the final of the « Relais de la Chanson Française » competition in 1963 with the title « Te réjouis pas tant ».
The same year, he also participated in the radio hook « Tour de Chance organized by Radio Luxembourg. As a winner, he got the opportunity to record his first 45 rpm with four songs in 1964.: « On est bien », « Avec tes faux sourires », « Sur la place au soleil » and « Sois pas grand chose ».

In 1965, he met the Belgian Dominique Ney with whom he wrote songs and formed a duo: Gilles & Dominique. In 1966, the artist couple won the interpretation prize at the Festival de la Chanson Française in Spa, Belgium. They recorded some 45s together, then in 1969, Gilles Olivier resumed his solo career with « La complainte du satyre » And « Rien qu’un peu de pluie ».

This final album did not achieve the expected success, but the artist persevered and truly began to make a name for himself in 1971 with Il faut prendre son parti (You Must Take Your Side) and, especially, in 1972, with Pourvu que ça dure. Success grew for Gilles Olivier, who released his first album, Naissance, in 1973. His songs then received numerous radio airplay: On ne peut pas vivre sans amour (1973), La faute aux photographies (1974), Des hauts et des bas (1974), and Sur le pont de Simon & Garfunkel in 1976.
One of the last 45s to find favor with programmers was Vivre en harmonie (1979). Then, the artist seemed to withdraw from public life without giving any news of himself. He reappeared, however, in 1996 with the release of a CD of covers: Chantons autour du feu. It includes Prendre un enfant par la main, L'eau vive, Le métèque, Stewball, etc.
In 2003, Gilles Olivier recorded an album for young audiences: Les zèbres en pyjama, un après-midi sans histoire. Finally, in 2011, a CD was released by Reader's Digest with twelve eternal French songs performed by Gilles Olivier, whose voice has not changed since the 1970s. He covers L'espérance folle by Guy Béart, again Prendre un enfant par la main by Yves Duteil, La Fanette by Jacques Brel, Passer ma route by Maxime Le Forestier, La maladie d'amour by Michel Sardou and L'important c'est la rose by Gilbert Bécaud.
Biography taken from the website www.passionchanson.net