 Olivier was born in <unk> , Surrey , the youngest of the three children of the <unk> Gerard Kerr Olivier ( 1869 – 1939 ) and his wife Agnes Louise , née <unk> ( 1871 – 1920 ) . Their elder children were <unk> ( 1901 – 89 ) and Gerard <unk> " <unk> " ( 1904 – 58 ) . His great @-@ great @-@ grandfather was of French Huguenot descent , and Olivier came from a long line of Protestant clergymen . Gerard Olivier had begun a career as a schoolmaster , but in his thirties he discovered a strong religious <unk> and was ordained as a priest of the Church of England . He practised extremely high church , <unk> Christianity and liked to be addressed as " Father Olivier " . This made him unacceptable to most Anglican congregations , and the only church posts he was offered were temporary , usually <unk> for regular <unk> in their absence . This meant a nomadic existence , and for Laurence 's first few years , he never lived in one place long enough to make friends . 
