Olynyk played college basketball at Gonzaga University. During his freshman and sophomore years there, Olynyk averaged 12 to 13 minutes per game and was mainly a bench player. During his junior year, Olynyk and Gonzaga both agreed that he would redshirt. He played in the 2012–13 season and was selected for both the Consensus First-Team All-American and the 2012–13 Academic All-America first team.