AusBonsai

I have the opportunity to dig a few olives and I want to no when is the best time? I no august is when they say you should did trees but is July ok? ( I'm in Sydney)

Hi Jack
No problem digging olives this time of year. Probably anytime of year is OK
I dug a European olive end of June last year and its growing well [ Sydney]
Like most trees the more fine roots you save the quicker it recovers.
I decided to cut mine flat at the bottom with a chainsaw and that made recovery "much" slower
July is now my favourite month for collecting most trees. Not so much for trees benefit but
more for me. Its easier digging in cold weather and soil is usually wetter, so less effort.
African olives make even better bonsai [small leaf] but just as tough.
Hope you can score a good tree.
cheers

Awesome thank you and what soil would u you use after digging?

Agreed, any time of year for olives. We have dug feral olives in Winter, Spring, early Summer and Autumn all with good results. Some trees seem to sulk after collection but that does not seem to be related to time of year as other dug at the same time grow strongly.
Use a good potting mix after collecting any tree. I prefer to get rid of most of the native soil when collecting any tree. Garden/bush soil is not good in pots. potting mix is better in pots.
I'm also happy to cut all roots short at collection time. Recovery may sometimes be slower afterward but you won't need to reduce roots a couple of years later which does tend to set them back even more at that stage.