Olaf became well-known in 1987 with his series "Chess", which show people in unusual positions, piled on top of one another, wrapped in rags and ropes instead of in clothes. Four years ago he made the series "Mind of Their Own": glamorous portraits of mentally handicapped young people. Olaf's oeuvre is characterised by the unusual, the abnormal.

Advertising photography usually shows young, slim and beautiful models. Olaf, however, defies the expectations of the viewer, like in his 1997 photo for Diesel jeans, in which an old lady keenly grabs an old man in his groin.