Olimatta Taal is a product of an activist mother, Connie Tucker of Tuskegee, Alabama, and Pan Africanist father, Saihou Taal of The Gambia, West Africa. She spent her childhood between Tuskegee, Honolulu, Hawaii, Selma, Alabama, and The Gambia. After taking her common entrance at Marina International School, she returned to the U.S. As a movement child, she began actively participating as a youth leader from an early age. In 1990, Olly alongside other youth leaders led a student walkout at West Side Middle School as they joined other students in a sit-in at Selma High School against racial tracking and mis-education in the school system. This was the youth wing of the organization, Selma Movement against Racial Tracking. She spent many months on the front line for education and was arrested for protesting at City Hall from age 13. She received youth leadership training from the 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement and the Southern Association of Black Educators throughout her teenage years. A few years later, while living in Atlanta she co-founded Ujima Youth Organization and Straight Up at Stone Mountain High School while co-founding a national umbrella youth organization, the Youth Task Force. She organized, mobilized, and educated youth throughout the country.

In 1994, their “Unity in the Community Campaign, Peace in the Streets” against environmental racism garnered international attention as they were beaten and arrested by over 100 cops in a melee. Joseph Lowery, Connie Tucker, and other leaders served as a council of elders as the march was reorganized and the battle was won as 500 returned strong a month later. This contributed to President Bill Clinton signing Executive Order 12898 to address environmental justice in minority populations and low-income populations in 1994. As a result of her youth work, she was named Youth Mayor of the Atlanta and spent the day with Mayor Bill Campbell as Mayor for The Day. She also received the key to the City of Atlanta. Later that years she was invited as a guest speaker on BET’s Teen Summit, discussing youth roles in the Civil Rights Movement then and now.

While attending Georgia State University, she began a career as a journalist and publicist. Her work was published in The Caribbean Star Newsmagazine, Rolling Out Magazine, Source Magazine France, The Final Call, Ebony Magazine, and other publications. After graduating with a degree in African Studies, she was hired by Irie Fm in Jamaica in the Production Department and also worked in Marketing with Zip Fm as well. She simultaneously worked as a publicist working with Dead Prez, King of Kings, Sizzla Kalonji, Tarrus Riley, Coco Tea, GeeJam, D’Angel, Nesbeth, Tasseli Maat, BET J’s Earth Strong Production, the Selma National Voting Rights Museum, The Roots Festival in The Gambia and others. In April 2010, Ms. Taal was hired as the Executive Director of the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, Alabama where she oversaw a $450,000 project to digitize and archive the Museum.

Olly has taken over 500 people to Africa since 1994 and in 1999 took former Motown Recording Artist The Boys now The Suns to The Gambia. During that trip, The Suns repatriated to The Gambia and began to transform the music industry up till now. Recently, M1 of DeadPrez has repatriated to Senegal through her facilitation. Currently, she is focusing on building her company Sen Ghigen Productions which is an entertainment company that does event planning, organizing tours, booking of artists, public relations, marketing, and hosting of events, and managed a record company called Money Empire Group in The Gambia and has worked with Nobles, Omid Wisdom, Rash Kay, Jizzle and Attack.

She co-founded the Sizzla Youth Foundation with Sizzla Kalonji and Mr. Homer Harris in 2008. She later started the Connie Tucker Legacy Foundation, named after her mom who transitioned in 2015 to continue the work she has done internationally. CTLF has a plan to develop a Pan African Museum, skills center, library, and lodging in The Gambia. Olimatta Taal was decorated O.R.G. in 2014 in The Gambia by the President and has served as a Global Goodwill Ambassador to the UN since 2018. In 2023, Ms. Taal was invited to speak at the United Nations International Women’s Month Commission On Status Women 67 Session Parallel and received the President Biden Lifetime Achievement Award for her Activism and Volunteer service in communities around the world. In 2024, she received two awards in Selma, Alabama for her activism and leadership from The Bridge Crossing Jubilee and Salute Selma