Do you need to prune the olive trees? I am not an olive tree expert, but I have never seen an olive tree pruned. What kind of bonsai do you have? they are all different and you can get books on them. Bonsai's are often root pruned as well as branch pruned....

Yes, olive trees are definitely pruned, as we have just bought quite an old tree and planted it in our garden. I imagine late Autumn or Spring are the times to do it. The fruit is ready to pick in October - so after this. Young trees probably just need a trim.

Recently become proud owner of 70 olive trees. Surprised to discover there are at least 252 varieties!
For new trees try to achieve a bare trunk up to about five feet then keep the centre of your tree open by aiming for a goblet shape. Remove all suckers at least once during the summer months. Prune during the winter and prune fairly hard every three years - keep the centre open! If you don't spray , burn all prunings.

I like the advice to trim the trunk up to 5 ft. But our olive trees are old and now have lots of large branches growing from the ground outward. Is it ok to chop those thicker branches? Or will this disturb the tree overall?