My name is Olaf Only and I've been playing Olaf Top since Season 4.
I have reached Challenger multiple times, (peaked at rank 87) and have over 6 Million Mastery points on Olaf.

I'm a streamer on Twitch.
I also have a Youtube channel with Highlights, Tips and Guides all surrounding Olaf.

If you're looking for a fun and engaging champion that never gets boring no matter how much you play, Olaf is the perfect choice.

I have attempted to main a lot of different top lane champions such as Rengar, Riven, Renekton and Lee Sin.
However Olaf is the only champion that I never got "bored of".

You also see a trend here that I played mostly early game focused champions, which to me is way more fun as you don't need to farm for 20 minutes before you actually can do something like most other champions.

Once you get a lead with Olaf(which is very common), you will never die to ganks and you can 1v2 everytime you have Ragnarok ready.
Translating into teamfights you will become an unstoppable meatshield that can kill any target of your choice while the enemy team helplessly attempts to slow you down.

+ Godlike midgame
+ Cannot be CC'd, enables you to kill important targets.
+ Fun to play with a lot to learn

- Weak lategame
- Bad against high mobility teams
- Easily Gankable

Runes for Olaf are pretty straight forward but there are some slight variations that should be considered.

Precision is pretty much mandatory as your Primary Rune Path.
Conqueror, Triumph and Last Stand are undeniably the best runes in this tree.

Chosing between Legend: Alacrity, Legend: Bloodline is a lot more difficult.

In short: Legend: Alacrity is better early game while Legend: Bloodline is better mid to late game.

The Secondary Rune Path is a bit more debatable.
In short: Inspiration makes snowballing easier, but you don't get the combat stats that Resolve provide.

Resolve

Demolish

Useful in matchups where you will have constant priority and/or against champions with weak waveclear, bad sustain or roam-heavy playstyle.
It's the early-game rune to help you get turret plates before 14 minutes.

Conditioning

Good value combined with Ragnarok but doesn't do anything until 12 minutes. I prefer Approach Velocity for better mobility over tankyness.

Second Wind

Valuable if you face a ranged champion with constant poke (ex. Quinn)
If you can survive Approach Velocity is way better.

Bone Plating

Only viable vs Melee champions that rely on All-in's and have no poke.
Ex. ( Sett, Trundle, Jax, Garen).

Overgrowth

Midgame focused rune similar to Conditioning that gets increased value over time. I still value Approach Velocity or Magical Footwear for extra mobility over tankyness.

Shield Bash

Good synergy with Tough It Out, makes you tankier on low hp and do some extra damage.

Inspiration

Approach Velocity

Gives you extra movement speed when landing Undertow
Closing the gap against champions is very important with Olaf and
this rune helps out precicely with that.
I take this almost every game.

Magical Footwear

Mobility is crucial and this is Permanent
movementspeed that you cannot get anywhere else.
I take this almost every game.

Biscuit Delivery

You can take this over Magical Footwear for a stronger earlygame, and slightly higher mana pool

Shards

You can go either Diamond or Axe as your first shard. I prefer Diamond as Olaf has good AD-Scaling on abilities.
Diamond always as your 2nd Shard.
As for the final slot, you can take Heart vs easy matchups or Shield/ Circle depending on the matchup.

Ghost

More risky than Flash as you die easier to ganks with hard CC and Towerdives.
You can't dodge important ablities with Ghost like you can with Flash (Ex. Hookshot). So positioning becomes important.
In return Ghost offers better Kill potential 1v1 and is better in teamfights so you can extend Ragnarok's duration easier.

Flash

Great for teamfights/skirmishes combined with Ghost.
Ex. Getting over walls, performing fast burst combos, dodging crucial abilities.

Teleport

Fallen out of the Meta so I don't use it anymore(main reason is cuse you can't use it on minions before 14 minutes)

Ignite

Ideal choice if you're laning vs a Champion with In-Combat-Healing. Ex. Aatrox, Gwen, Fiora.
Can also be picked simply for a stronger early game.
Combine with Ghost.

Exhaust

Increases your survivability against burst damage.
It's great if you're against a lot of assasins.
Combine with Ghost.

Common items

Doran's Blade

The best starting item for Olaf if against melee champions that you win
versus before level 6.

Corrupting Potion

The best starting item for Olaf if against ranged and/or any champion that you can't trade with before level 6.

Plated Steelcaps

I get this essentially every game.
If against 4+ AP Champions, go Mercury's Treads
If against really low damage, go Ionian Boots of Lucidity.

Trinity Force

Best Mythic in my opinion.
Gives you a balance of Mobility, Damage and HP.

Stridebreaker

On par with Trinity Force.
Offers better Mobility, but lower DPS.

Sterak's Gage

Olaf recently got increased Base AD which makes this item more desirable. Get this as 4th or 5th item.

Death's Dance

Really good vs AD Heavy teams.
It's great against burst damage as the damage you take is delayed by 3 seconds which can give you enough time for it's 2nd passive + Triumph to kick in.

Titanic Hydra

Very good as 5th or 6th item if you want Tank + Damage in one item.

Force of Nature

Increases your mobilty and survivability in extended fights vs Magic Damage.

Spirit Visage

Empowers the effect of Triumph, Conqueror, Berserker Rage and Tough It Out.
If you want survivability against burst heavy Magic Damage and u don't need extra mobility, get this instead of Force of Nature.

Randuin's Omen

The best armor item for Olaf and it gets even better if the enemy team has Crit.

Bramble Vest

The best armor item against Life steal heavy teams.
Build into Thornmail as absolute LAST ITEM as the passive doesn't work with Olaf.

Stopwatch

Buy this when you know the game will be decided by the next teamfight and you only have 650 gold to spare.

Executioner's Calling

Cheap and good against Casters with spellvamp such as Aatrox, Cassiopeia, Dr. Mundo Illaoi etc.

Uncommon items

Goredrinker

Nerfed a few times but still offers the best defense against Burst damage (which is a problem for Olaf) and also gives strong dueling power.
Unfortunately it lacks in mobility which is more important than ever with Olaf's new Ragnarok.

Blade of the Ruined King

Olaf becomes very squishy if you build this which makes it weak in teamfights. But if you want to splitpush or if you're really far ahead it's great.

Hexdrinker

Situationally good for Olaf if you're up against AP heavy teams and if you're laning vs Akali, Corki, Viktor etc.
Upgrade to Maw of Malmortius as 4th, 5th or 6th item.
Does not stack with Sterak's Gage.

Guardian Angel

Good lategame teamfight item against AD heavy teams.

Bad Items

Frozen Heart

Great item if the enemy team is full AD, but the extra mana isn't necessary and I would rather go with Randuin's Omen.

Black Cleaver

Not great with how it synergizes with Olaf's new Undertow.
Armor penetration in general isn't 100% effective as Olaf does True damage.

Always go for early kills or trades if your matchup allows it. Typically you should poke with Undertow until they are low enough for an all-in.

Be careful not to push the minionwave when the enemy jungler is Topside, as you are vulnerable to ganks!

Try to freeze the lane towards your own turret , that way you won't die to ganks and you can potentially go for all-ins.

Don't bother going for Turret Plates before 5 minutes.

Your goal in the early game is to get Trinity Force.
This is a massive powerspike, as you are tanky enough to win the extended fights.

When/if you are stronger than your enemy, try to deny them as much as possible by freezing the lane and going for kills.

Always help your jungler and try to predict whats going to happen in the next 30 seconds so you're ready to respond.

Save your Ghost if you can for the upcoming Baron or Dragon -Soul teamfight, as it is the most impactful fight of the game.

Your mid game impact should enable your team to close out the game.

Try your best to Kill and Zone their carries in fights
or
Protect your most valuable carry.

Try to activate Ragnarok when you know you're in range to Refresh the duration before it runs out.

Save Reckless Swing for the final blow on champions and minions. Otherwise, you will not refund the HP cost!

Use Tough It Out as close to 30% as possible, since it caps out at 30%.

Whenever you get minion aggro from a trade, go into a Brush as soon as possible to drop it.

The best advice I can give you is to play A LOT of games. This shouldn’t come as a surprise but it is hands down the best way to improve at the game itself and Olaf specifically.
If you play enough you will reach a point where you don’t have to focus on your cooldowns and you will know your limits etc. When you reach this state you can put all your focus on the macro play which will win you more games in the end!

Thanks for checking out my guide!