Olive ridleys (Lepidochelys olivacea) are globally distributed in the tropical and subtropical areas of the South Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.

Most scientists believe that olive ridleys descended from a single population in the Indian ocean, about 3/5 million of years ago. Therefrom, they have successfully colonized the Pacific ocean (east and west) and only recently, about 200,000 years, the species supposedly reached the Atlantic ocean.