Russian olive is a shrub or small tree usually 12 to 45 feet tall. It can grow up to 6 feet per year. It forms a dense, rounded crown. Near the ground its branches spread from 10 to 20 feet. Unpruned trees have five or six main stems starting near the ground. It reproduces from seed and by root sprouting. Flowers are small, yellow, and very fragrant, borne in teh axils of the leaves. Fruit is a light grayish-green olive-shaped drupe.
Linear, light green above, gray below, 1.7 to 3.5 inches long. The leaves are covered with scalelike, stellate pubescence, giving it the appearance of silvery scales.
The twigs of Russian olive are flexible, coated with a gray, scaly pubescence and have a thorn at the end. Bark is reddish-brown and thin, with shallow fissures, and exfoliates into long strips.