Wootton was born in Lewisham in 1932. She studied at Goldsmiths College of Art, where she graduated with first class honours and attended the Royal College of Art. In 1955 she was represented in the Young Contemporaries exhibition in London. Although Olive has exhibited throughout her life, it is since the untimely death of her painter husband, Gordon, that she has returned to sculpture with a renewed energy.
She has enjoyed considerable success with individual shows in the UK and overseas. In 1992 she was elected an Associate Member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors and in recent years has shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions. She lives and works at her studio in an attractive area of rural Northamptonshire.