Dr. Pablo Olivarez and his wife, the late Dr. Rosario de Leon-Olivarez, pioneered in the development of the community when they put up Olivarez General Hospital in 1975. Being medical practitioners, they established the Olivarez School of Nursing on April 30, 1976.[1]
In 1978, Olivarez School of Nursing was changed to Olivarez Junior College: instituting the College of Liberal Arts (now College of Arts and Sciences), College of Commerce (now College of Business Administration), and Health Related Courses (now College of Health Related Sciences).[1]
In 1980, the school became Olivarez College and began offering Graduate School programs in 1992.[1] In 1993, Liberal Arts, Commerce and Nursing programs were granted Level II accreditation status by the PACUCOA. Likewise, the Basic Education Department was awarded PAASCU level I status in February 2002 and level II accreditation status on May 14, 2004.
In 2003, the board of trustees decided to start a campus in Tagaytay offering the courses BS Nursing, BS Business Administration major in Marketing Management, Bachelor in Elementary Education major in Early Childhood, BS Hotel and Restaurant Management, BS Information Technology, BS Accountancy, Short Courses like Associate in Computer Technology, Associate in Health Science Education and Caregiver.[1]
Near cancellation to present
In 2013, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) almost closed Olivarez's School of Nursing due to its low performance in its nursing licensure examinations.[2] The college said in a statement that this was "politically motivated and candidly baseless".[3]
At present, the school administrators are working toward making Olivarez College achieve university status, in accordance to the vision of the founder and president of the school, Pablo Olivarez.
Parañaque Campus
Main Buildings
The Pablo R. Olivarez Hall houses the College Office of Student Affairs (OSA), which handles student programs and concerns, the Guidance and Testing Center (GTC), school clinic, audio-visual room, auditorium, botanical garden, nursing arts laboratories, and speech laboratories.[1] Adjacent to this hall is the bookstore. The Rosario L. Olivarez Hall meanwhile is where the Integrated Basic Education Department (IBED) OSA head holds office, and has computer laboratories for IBED students. There is also the Saturnina de Leon Hall, which has computer libraries for senior high students. Each hall contains a library.
Olivarez Coliseum
Situated near the Rosario L. Olivarez Hall (IBED Building), the Olivarez Coliseum can hold 5,000 spectators.[1] It is not just the home of the Olivarez Sea Lions, but was also the home arena for the Asean Basketball League (ABL) team Alab Pilipinas and is currently the home arena of the Parañaque Patriots.[4][5] It has also hosted UCBL games,[6] and PBA games.[7] Other non sport-related events the coliseum had hosted include pageants,[1] campaign rallies,[8] and more.
Sports Facilities
Located beside the Saturnina De Leon Hall (formerly HRM building), the gymnasium features a basketball court which can be converted to several playing courts for volleyball, badminton, and other sports and it can accommodate 2,000 spectators.[1] It was the home arena of the ABL team San Miguel Beermen.[9] It has also hosted UCBL games,[10] and MPBL games,[11]
Located beside the Olivarez Coliseum is a half-Olympic size swimming pool.[1] They also have tennis courts, which host UAAP tennis matches.[12]
Filming
The Parañaque campus was among the filming locations for the 2011 film Way Back Home.[13]
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