1984 Laurence Olivier Awards in the context of "Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor"

The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional London theatre. The awards were originally known as the Society of West End Theatre Awards, but they were renamed in honour of the English actor of the same name in 1984.

The awards are given annually to individuals involved in West End productions and other leading non-commercial theatres based in London across a range of categories covering plays, musicals, dance, opera and affiliate theatre. A discretionary non-competitive Special Olivier Award is also given each year. The Olivier Awards are recognised internationally as the highest honour in British theatre, equivalent to the BAFTA Awards for film and television, and the BRIT Awards for music. The Olivier Awards are considered equivalent to Broadway's Tony Awards, France's Molière Award, Spain's Premios Max, Australia's Helpmann Awards and Russia's Golden Mask.

The Laurence Olivier Award for Society of London Theatre Special Award is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in professional London theatre. The awards 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, himself a 1979 recipient of this award.

This award was introduced in 1976. In 2020, the award was expanded with additional Special Recognition Recipients, recognizing a larger number of people each year for their lifetime of contributions to commercial British theatre.