Born in Viana do Castelo, her artistic training in the area of ​​dance was the course of the School of Dance of the National Theater of S. Carlos with Ana Ivanova and the course of the School of Dance of the National Conservatory of Lisbon.

From 1976 to 1992 she joined the cast of the Gulbenkian Ballet under the direction of Jorge Salavisa, where she was the first dancer and main choreographer.

She worked with renowned choreographers such as: Alvin Nokolais, Jiri Kylián, Louis Falco, Hans Van Manen, Vasco Wellemkamp, Karine Saporta, Lar Lubovitch, Peter Sparling, Elisa Monte and Christopher Bruce.

In May 1992 she assumed the artistic direction of the Companhia de Dança de Lisboa.

In February 1995, she founded the Companhia Olga Roriz, of which she is director and choreographer.

His repertoire in the area of ​​dance, theater and video is made up of more than 100 works, among which are the pieces Treze Gestos by um Corpo, Isolde, Casta Diva, Pedro and Inês, Private Property, Electra, Pets , A Cidade, A Traditions of spring.

Pieces created and reassembled for a large number of national and foreign companies, including Ballet Gulbenkian and National Ballet Company (Portugal), Ballet Teatro Guaira (Brazil), Ballets de Monte Carlo (Monaco), National Ballet of Spain, English National Ballet. (England), American Reportory Ballet (United States), Maggio Danza and Alla Scala (Italy).

At an international level, her works were presented in the main European capitals, as well as in the United States, Brazil, Japan, Egypt, Cape Verde, Senegal, Thailand, Macao, Mozambique and South Korea.

It has a vast path of creating movement for Theater and Opera.

In the video area, she made three films, Felicidades Madame, A Siesta and Interiores.

Several of her works are published on DVD by producer Real Ficção, made by Rui Sim<2MASCULINE>es.

In 2006 Assírio & Alvim published an extensive biography about her life and work with text by Mónica Guerreiro.

Since 1982 Olga Roriz has been distinguished with important national and foreign awards.

Among them we highlight the 1st Prize of the Osaka Dance Contest, Japan (1988), Prize for the best choreography by Londrina Time-Out Magazine (1993), Almada Prize (2004), Decoration with the insignia of the Order of the Infante D.

Henrique – Grand Officer for the President of the Republic (2004), Grand Prize of the Portuguese Society of Authors and Milleniumbcp (2008), Latinity Prize (2012), distinction with the Most Influential Women of Portugal award (2016), for the EXECUTIVA magazine, SPA award (2018) for the best choreography of 2017 with the work ‘Síndrome’, SMA award – Semana Arte Mulher Artes e Espetumentos, awarded by the Figueira da Foz City Council (2019) and the SPA – Sociedade Medal of Honor Portuguese Authors 2019).

In December 2017 by the University of Aveiro, she received the Doctorate Honoris Causa with distinction in the Arts.