The actor has starred in blockbuster movies like Scream 2 and Die Hard 4.0 but he's earning his spurs and star status playing a modern day cowboy who has taken America by storm.
In new series Justified, which is already being touted as the US smash hit drama of the year and is about to arrive in the UK on Five USA, he stars as US deputy Raylan Givens, a 21st century marshal who wears a stetson, is kindly, and courteous - but plays for keeps. If he draws his weapon, he'll shoot to kill.
Olyphant says: "Someone points a shotgun at him and he says, let's talk about this, let's think this through before anyone does anything stupid. That same guy says something smart alec or rude to him, he'll grab him by the hair and smash his head off the steering wheel. That cracks me up. You can point your gun at me, I'll deal with it in a very calm and polite manner. If you're rude to me, I'll bloody your nose.
"I'm very proud of the show. You don't have to be a dummy to know that in my business it's easy to be embarrassed by a lot of what you do. It's a wonderful feeling when you can just say, 'take a look at it'.
"I think it's something really special. From my buddies to my mother and her friends, it's nice to be able to say to just about every grown up you know to watch it, as you are going to like it. It's a lovely experience to be involved in something like that."
Justified is based on the character created by the Godfather of crime writing, Elmore Leonard, in his books Pronto, Riding the Rap and Fire in the Hole.
The author, described by no less than Ian Rankin as "the crime writer's crime writer - king of all he surveys" also acts as executive producer on the show.
The 84-year-old's presence might explain why Justified is every bit as good as the books on which it is based.
It's a rare trick. A few notable exceptions apart - Jackie Brown, Get Shorty and Out of Sight being the highlights - transferring his acclaimed work to the screen has often ended in disappointment.
A key reason seems to be the leading man. When he saw Olyphant for the first time, the writer remarked: "My God, he's the guy."
The actor is, understandably, humbled by such praise, especially as he kept Leonard's books close by during filming, reading them constantly. He says: "That statement makes your day without doubt. It meant a great deal.
"I don't think there were two or three days where I didn't reinvest in the books.
"So when he told me what he felt about it I thought, thank God I hadn't thought about what he would think of me and put all that pressure on myself.
"With Elmore Leonard, I keep coming back to the same word. Cool. He's the coolest mother I know. I met him, two or three episodes into the show. I was standing with him, for an hour plus, and I kept waiting for him to say I need to sit down - he's 175 years old for all I know.
"He never did. He's sharp as a tack, he's funny as hell, he's engaging and he's full of enthusiasm for his work, for his storytelling, and God Bless him, for what we're doing on this show.
"When I got this job I just thought this is a hell of an opportunity. This is a character where if you get it right, it's something really special and they are hard to come by. It's Cowboys and Indians. It's cool, it's sexy, it's funny, it's all the things Elmore does when he's clicking on all cylinders. There's a lot there to like."
Olyphant wears the stetson well but he has had practice. He played another sheriff, Seth Bullock, in HBO's widely-praised cult Western series Deadwood, opposite Brit star Ian McShane as the foul-mouthed Al Swearengen.
It's an obvious leap to presume Raylan Givens is a modern day extension of the Deadwood character but the actor disagrees.
He bristles slightly at a suggestion which has been put to him too many times but, thankfully, doesn't go for his gun.
He says: "When someone tells me it's kind of like what you did in Deadwood, or it's kind of like Clint Eastwood, it's very complimentary but I find it so superficial because it's not at all my experience of it. For me, as an acting job, it's nothing like anything I have had a chance to do before. Both guys wear hats - so what?
"With Deadwood, the character had this awful burden of responsibility, this weight he carried around and this struggle not to wake up every morning and just murder somebody because he was so frustrated by the situation.
"In Justified, this is the guy who is easy going and charming and funny and yet when he says if you take another step I'm going to shoot you, he absolutely means it. Every time someone like that says it, you still think he's not really going to shoot. But if you take half a step, you're going to get a bullet coming your way."
Olyphant, 40, who is married with three children, is one of those actors who you don't know until you see him.
As well as playing the villain in box-office blockbusters like Scream 2 and Die Hard 4.0, he's appeared on TV in everything from Damages to Samantha Who and My Name is Earl. He's also starred in independent film hits like the recent remake of zombie king George A Romero's The Crazies, Doug Liman's 1999 indie hit Go, which saw him star with Katie Holmes, and Hitman, the film version of the successful video game which also featured Dougray Scott.
While he rightly received plaudits for Deadwood, he has spent most of his career out of the spotlight, and that's suited him just fine. Justified is set to change all that but if international stardom does beckon, he's ready for it.
He says: "In my career I'm kind of guilty of thinking it was always going to work out - it might be the case that ignorance is bliss.
"I got offered good jobs early on. All along I've always had opportunities. If I look back to something like Go, for instance, when that came out I got nice notices, I went to Sundance and I was being treated like a rock star.
"But I kind of also feel I dodged a bullet by avoiding great success in terms of big box office or being a star. It comes with a lot of baggage.
"Now, I don't care if the whole world goes apeshit over it, I feel I would enjoy it.
"I don't think I would have said that a few years ago. I would be nervous.
"I'm at a time and a place in my life now where I think if not now when? It's fun. I think I see that in the performance.
"Someone sent me some quotes from a review saying my performance was "an unabashed star turn" or something. And I guess it kind of is. I guess that's what I'm doing up there. That's what the role calls for and I don't think I would have done that a few years ago, I would hide behind the big moustache.
"I've had fun parts and great opportunities which, for whatever reason, didn't really break out. This is designed for what it is and it's fun to do."
Tags : Timothy Olyphant, Hollywood, Actor, Entertainment, TV show, Lifestyle, tvcute
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