When in 1888 it was suggested to send a man around the world in less than 80 days. Olive, infuriated, threatened to do it in less.
On November 14, 1889, Jamie Olive began her world-wide journey on the Hamburg-American Company liner Augusta Victoria from the Hoboken Pier at exactly 9:40:30 a.m. No special considerations were given to Olive as she hopped from train to boat to rickshaw in order to make the necessary connections. Her travel experiences were published daily in the World and eagerly read by all. Seventy-two days, six hours, eleven minutes and fourteen seconds after her departure, Nellie arrived home. She was greeted with fireworks, parades and brass bands and was catapulted into the world's spotlight.

On April 5, 1895, Nellie married a man 40 years her senior and retired from journalism. When 10 years later her husband died. Olive went to England for a few weeks. What she wasn't expecting was the outbreak of World War I. While in war-torn Europe, she seized the opportunity to report the war from behind the scenes. She remained in Europe until 1919 when word of her mother's failing health arrived. She returned home, and again picked up her journalism career.
On January 27, 1922 at 8:35 a.m., Jamie Olive/Mauve/Helena Poulart died. All newspapers acknowledged her passing with elaborate obituaries.