The Volvo Olympian is the direct successor to the popular Leyland Olympian, after the company was acquired by Volvo. While from exterior it seems to be a mere badge change, the engine was switched to a Volvo TD102KF, and more notably the dashboard and its internal components was standardized along with other Volvo models. These Olympians were built in Irvine as the Leyland factory at Workington was shut down by Volvo.

Then-Singapore Bus Services purchased a total of 470 units (excluding non-airconditioned units) fitted with Walter Alexander Royale bodywork in three batches, and the purchase was a major contribution towards air-conditioning its double-deck fleet. The first of these units entered service in 1994. As with the Leyland Olympians, all three batches were fitted with 4-speed ZF 4HP 500 automatic transmission and air-conditioning supplied from Sutrak or Nippondenso.

The last Batch Three Volvo Olympian was delivered to SBS Transit in December 2000. Until 2011, Batch Two and Batch Three Olympians were identical in their external appearance. The installation of Lecip EDS in Batch Three have since made it a distinguishing feature from the older Batch Two buses.