Olagüe was born in San Sebastián and studied law at the Universities of Valladolid and Madrid. From 1924 to 1936, he worked in the paleontology laboratory of the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid under the direction of José Royo. Olagüe was inspired by fascist theoretician Ramiro Ledesma Ramos and became a member of his group, the far-right syndicalist JONS movement. Together with Ernesto Giménez Caballero, he founded the first Spanish film society in Madrid in 1929.