How to alter OpenLayers map settings?
have you tried using drupal_message to make sure it's being called?

Or calling the hook_openlayers_map_alter() function and using map as an array like so:

function hook_openlayers_map_alter(&amp;$map = array()) {
    $map['center'] =&gt; array( 'lat' =&gt; '0',
                             'lon' =&gt; '0',
                             'zoom' =&gt; '2'
                           );    


}