Olive is a dark yellowish green color typically seen on green olives. As a color word in the English language, it appears in late Middle English. Shaded toward green, it becomes olive drab.

The first recorded use of olive drab as a color name in English was in 1892. Drab is an older color name, from the middle of the 16th century. It refers to a dull light brown color, the color of cloth made from undyed homespun wool. It took its name from the old French word for cloth, drap.

Olive drab was the color of the standard fighting uniform for US GIs and military vehicles during World War II. US soldiers often referred to their uniforms as "OD's" due to the color. The color used at the beginning of the war by the US Army was officially called Olive Drab #3, which was replaced by the darker Olive Drab #7 by 1944, and which was again replaced by Olive Green 107.

As a solid color, it is not as effective for camouflage as multiple-color camo schemes, though it is still used by the US military to color webbing and accessories.