USS Olympia is the United States Navy's 104th nuclear powered submarine and the 95th of the attack submarine fleet. She is the 29th of the Los Angeles nuclear powered fast attack submarine class to be delivered to the Navy Submarine fleet. SSN 717 began her waterborne career on April 30, 1983, when she was launched at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydocking Company in Newport News, Virginia. She was christened by Mrs. Dorothy Williams, and was commissioned on November 17, 1984. In February of 1986, the submarine set sail for her new homeport in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

September 3, 2002 Cmdr. Paul Marconi relieved Cmdr. Robert Brennan as commanding officer of USS Olympia in a change of command ceremony held onboard the attack submarine in Naval Station Pearl Harbor. Capt. William French, Commander, Submarine Squadron Three awarded Brennan Meritorious Service Medal for his highly successful command from Mar. 2000 to Sept. 2002. Since her commisioning the submarine has completed five deployments to the western Pacific including its most recent deployment where the crew directly participated in Operation Enduring Freedom.

April 17, 2003 USS Olympia (SSN 717) departed Pearl Harbor for a six-month deployment to conduct operations in the western Pacific.

Upon arrival in 7th Fleet AoR, USS Olympia joined Exercise Tandem Thrust, a tri-service exercise in the western Pacific, in the vicinity of the northern Marianas Islands. She successfully engaged opposition force submarines and earned the nickname "Silent Spear," by exhibiting tactical superiority during operations with the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Strike Group. After port visits to Saipan and Sasebo, Japan, the attack submarine transited to Chinhae, Republic of Korea, for a seven-day port visit.

October 23, USS Olympia returned to homeport after a routine six-month deployment. She supported a variety of operations and exercises throughout the deployment while assigned to the 7th Fleet area of operations in the western Pacific Theater. These included Exercise Tandem Thrust, a tri-service exercise designed to develop interaction between the services, and Exercise SHAREM 146, a major multi-national naval exercise with forward-deployed forces. The Olympia also conducted independent operations and a shallow water acoustic test. The crew visited liberty ports in South Korea, Japan, Guam and Saipan.

February 7, 2005 The Olympia departed for a scheduled western Pacific deployment, as part of the Vinson CSG.

August 6, USS Olympia returned to Pearl Harbor after a six-month underway period. Despite the long hours and many missions, the crew still had time for a little relaxation and visited many ports, including Saipan, Japan, Singapore and Guam. In June, when submarine visited the home of the Republic of Korea’s submarine force in Chinhae, the Korean submariners were gracious hosts, providing tours of their submarines to the crew. Following the port visit, SSN 717 joined the ROK submarine Lee Sun Shin to conduct an exercise. USS Olympia arrived in Guam July 6 for a 10-day repair period alongside the deployed submarine tender USS Frank Cable (AS 40). After completing the upkeep period, she conducted several exercises with another submarine, destroyer and maritime patrol aircraft, culminating in an exercise torpedo firing.

August 10, Cmdr. James Horten relieved Cmdr. Paul Marconi as CO of USS Olympia during a change-of-command ceremony aboard the nuclear-powered attack submarine at Naval Station Pearl Harbor.

September 23, Capt. Joseph E. Tofalo relieved Capt. L. David Marquet as Commander, Submarine Squadron (COMSUBRON) 3, during a change-of-command ceremony aboard the Olympia.

April 1, 2009 USS Olympia completed a three-year, $190.5 million worth, Engineering Refueling Overhaul (ERO) at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.

June 18, 2010 USS Olympia departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for a scheduled western Pacific deployment.

November 5, The Los Angeles-class attack submarine pulled into Fleet Activities Yokosuka for a routine port call.

December 17, SSN 717 returned to Pearl Harbor after a six-month deployment.

March 4, 2011 Cmdr. Michael J. Boone relieved Cmdr. Michael Coughlin as CO of the USS Olympia during a change-of-command ceremony aboard the Missouri (BB 63).

December 15, USS Olympia finished undergoing deperming being the first submarine to complete this treatment at the new drive-in submarine magnetic silencing facility (MSF), at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam's Beckoning Point.