The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in professional London theatre. The Oliviers were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards in 1976, and renamed in 1984 in honour of English actor and director Laurence Olivier.
This award was first given in 1977, then was replaced in 1985 by the commingled actor/actress Best Performance in a Supporting Role, which replaced the 1977 to 1984 pair of Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Actor in a Supporting Role awards.
From 1991 to 2012, the general supporting category vacillated at random between the commingled singular award (presented for 12 different seasons) and the pair of awards (presented for the other 11 seasons); the commingled award was last given in 2012, and the split pair of Best Actor and Best Actress awards have been presented every year since.
Angela Lansbury is the oldest recipient of this award when she won at the age of 89 for her role as Madame Arcati in the revival of Noël Coward's comedy play Blithe Spirit in 2015. The following year Judi Dench won at the age of the age of 81 for her role as Paulina in the William Shakespeare revival The Winter's Tale in 2016. Romola Garai was nominated twice the same year in the same category for her roles as Annie in The Years and Jessica Stone in Giant winning for the former at the 2025 Laurence Olivier Awards.