The Optimization of Olive

The Optimization of Olive

By Norah Sullivan

Olive Byrne lives her life by the numbers.

As a high-flying efficiency consultant in the heart of London, Olive knows that everything—from corporate restructuring to the perfect soft-boiled egg—can be optimized. Logic is her shield, and data is her language. So, when her fiancé "resigns" from their three-year relationship because Olive is "too clinical," she doesn't crumble.

She calculates.

The Goal: Find a life partner with a 95% compatibility rating.

The Method: The Olive Protocol. 100 first dates. Zero emotional interference. A very strict KPI (Key Performance Indicator) scoring system.

Olive is certain that love is simply a math problem waiting to be solved. She doesn't need sparks; she needs stability. She doesn't want "magic"; she wants a merger.

But the data starts to glitch when she meets Jamie.

Jamie is a cynical architect who thinks linear time is a scam and whose only five-year plan involves a messy studio and a building that "feels" right. He's impulsive, he's chaotic, and he's the ultimate rogue variable. He's everything Olive's spreadsheet says she should avoid, yet he's the only person who sees the woman behind the metrics.

As Olive navigates a sea of disastrous dates—including a "Space Guardian," a rule-obsessed lawyer, and a spiritual retreat involving a very judgmental goat—she is forced to face the one reality she never accounted for: The heart is not a spreadsheet.

When her perfectly structured past comes knocking with a second chance at the "safe" life, Olive must decide: Does she stick to the data and the five-year plan? Or does she finally delete the app, throw away the scoring system, and embrace the beautiful, terrifying chaos of the unknown?

"The Optimization of Olive" is a sharp, funny, and deeply moving romantic comedy about the messiness of being human, the futility of planning for the future, and the moment you realize that the best things in life are the ones you never saw coming.