History

This Order was originally established in 1997 by President Leonid Kuchma and it was first awarded on August 18th of the same year.

The Order was awarded to women for "personal merits and contribution to the Ukrainian people".

The namesake of the Order, Olga, was the ruler of Kievan Rus in the 10th century after the death of her husband Igor.

During her rule she managed to extract revenge from the people who killed her husband (the Drevlians) and she was one of the first Rus’ to convert to Christianity, which ended up being the dominant religion in the region.