The Instituto Olivares was founded in 1917 by José María Olivares, born in Cadiz but raised from his early childhood in Argentina, specifically in Chacabuco, province of Buenos Aires. In 1917, José María Olivares settled with his eight children in the city of Buenos Aires and established the Instituto Olivares, which was focused on document typewriting and the diffusion of the Olivares's method of syllabic shorthand in Argentina.

Over the years, the Instituto Olivares began to offer new services owing to its technical innovation. It was a time marked by high-contrast copies, reproductions made through the photographic process of developing, washing and drying of each copy, a time-consuming procedure that resulted in copies with white letters over a black background.

Around the 1930s and 1940s, the Instituto Olivares incorporated several of José María Olivares's sons: Raúl, Sergio and Jorge Olivares. At the same time, a number of branch offices were opened and additional services were made available, such as translation. In order to stay ahead of its competition, which offered copies of any kind, the Instituto Olivares employed experts on handwriting analysis to authenticate copies. These experts were then replaced by notaries, who have since then certified copies on the spot, thus allowing to further expedite the procedure.

Over time, the Instituto Olivares has consolidated in its main offices at Uruguay 580. Today, the Instituto Olivares is managed by the grandsons of José María Olivares: Diego María Olivares, engineer, and Hernán María Olivares, architect.