Olivier Bancoult was born in 1964 on the island of Peros Banhos in the Chagos Archipelago, from where he was forcibly removed at the age of 4 and transported to Mauritius. In 1982, his mother Rita Élysée Bancoult, together with activists Charlesia Alexis and Lisette Talate, founded CRG, the Chagos Refugee Group. Bancoult is an electrician and an advocate for the juridical right of the Chagossians to return from Mauritius to their original homeland. He has been involved in several high profile legal actions concerning the exile of the Chagos Islanders. He was one of five islanders who, on 13 February 2022, stepped on to the beach of Peros Banhos.