Effective use of live data informing real-time decision making is becoming increasingly prevalent within the mining industry, as users seek to leverage more value from their investment in geological data collection. This remains the core of the ongoing project to modernise the data handling and modelling processes at Olympic Dam. This paper describes the innovative transformation of the Olympic Dam geological model from sound practice to leading edge, enabled by industry leading model management and database solutions. Traditionally holistic model updates of Olympic Dam were problematic due to the size of the deposit and the vast quantity of historical data. Explicit modelling methods were inflexible and time intensive, leading to delays in model releases. However, initial implementations of implicit modelling methods were hampered by computational limitations in processing of the very large data sets. A new approach to allow data segregation and manageable data handling was required. The key enabling solution was dividing Olympic Dam into ten geologically distinct structural domains, each forming sub-models. This ultimately reduced the processing time required for implicit models and simplified data import/export. Each of these sub-models can be worked on independently, with the sub-models dynamically recombined through Leapfrog CentralTM to produce a single integrated model for planning and resource estimation. The value driver for the BHP Olympic Dam operation is the development of the first fully integrated, live geological model defining lithology, alteration, structural domains and mineralisation. Implicit modelling enables the rapid generation of a greater range of quality geological products supporting better-informed Mine Planning decisions. Near real-time updates to critical geological models will ensure robust geological domains inform the resource model. Moreover, implicit modelling methods enable the timely delineation of areas of significant geotechnical and geometallurgical concerns, which have both safety and productivity implications. CITATION: Taylor, J, Clark, J M, Levy, I, Horne, P, Smith, M and Passmore, M, 2019. BHP Olympic Dams transformation to live implicit modelling and innovative solutions to working in data dense environments, in Proceedings Mining Geology 2019, pp 190197 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).