David Olivier

David Olivier Whittier (born David Olivier; 11 March 1956) is an English-French antispeciesist activist, writer and philosopher. He is the founder of the French journal Cahiers antispécistes ("Antispeciesist Notebooks"), the annual event Veggie Pride, and the annual meeting Les Estivales de la question animale ("The Summers of the Animal Question"). Olivier coined the term "veggiephobia" and has authored numerous articles and delivered many conferences. An advocate of utilitarian and antinaturalist ethics, he identifies politically as a progressive.

Born in London to a French-teaching father and an American painter mother, Olivier spent his early years in London before moving to France in 1967. His activism began in his adolescence, focusing initially on ecology, anarchism, anti-sexism, and anti-racism. He later turned his attention to animal rights in the mid-1980s. Olivier studied physics at the École Normale Supérieure de Saint-Cloud and the University of Lyon 1. Professionally, he worked as a computer programmer at the University of Lyon until his retirement in 2018.

Olivier is considered a founding figure of the French antispeciesist movement. He introduced Peter Singer's works to French activists and significantly influenced the formation of the animal rights organisation L214. His activism led to the creation of Veggie Pride and the annual Les Estivales de la question animale meetings, contributing to the animal rights discourse in France and beyond. A staunch opponent of speciesism, Olivier asserts that ethical considerations should extend to all sentient beings, advocating for a world with reduced wild animal suffering and rejecting traditional environmentalism.

Olivier was born in London on 11 March 1956 to a French-teaching father and an American mother who was a painter. He mainly lived in London until 1967, after which he primarily lived in France. From childhood, he objected to the killing of animals for consumption.

In his adolescence, he was drawn to ecology, then to anarchism, devoting himself to anti-sexist and anti-racist activism. In Lyon, he was an activist for the French family planning and gay liberation movements. His focus on the importance of animal rights grew from the mid-1980s, as he moved away from anarchist and Marxist intellectual influences.

Olivier earned a baccalauréat scientifique in 1978. He pursued studies in physics at the former École Normale Supérieure de Saint-Cloud from 1976 to 1981, followed by a DEA in nuclear and particle physics at the University of Lyon 1 in 1988.

From 1983 to 1984, Olivier worked as a physics teacher but did not complete the CAPES certification year. The majority of Olivier's professional career was spent as a computer programmer at the University of Lyon 3 and later at Lyon 2. Olivier has been retired since March 2018.

Author of a leaflet initially distributed in libertarian circles of Lyonnais from 1985, Olivier is considered one of the founding figures of the French antispeciesist movement. His meeting with Yves Bonnardel in 1986 made him aware of the existence of an active animal liberation movement in the English-speaking world. With Bonnardel, Françoise Blanchon, also present in Lyon squat circles, and two other activists, he produced the pamphlet Nous ne mangeons pas de viande pour ne pas tuer d'animaux ("We Do Not Eat Meat So We Do Not Kill Animals"). Being bilingual, Olivier was able to create some of the first translations of Peter Singer's works into French, introducing Singer to his fellow activists.