Short answers, pulled from the story.
Olivier salad was invented by Lucien Olivier, a chef of French and Belgian origin, who ran the Hermitage restaurant in Moscow in the 1860s. The recipe was never fully published by Olivier himself; it was a sous-chef named Ivan Ivanov who reconstructed and distributed a version of it.
The 1894 recipe by Aleksandrova called for half a hazel grouse, two potatoes, one small cucumber or cornichon, three to four lettuce leaves, three large crayfish tails, a quarter cup of cubed aspic, a teaspoon of capers, three to five olives, and one tablespoon of Provençal dressing. A 1897 book confirmed grouse as the authentic meat.
In post-revolutionary Russia, expensive ingredients were replaced with affordable alternatives. Grouse was swapped for chicken or sausage, crayfish were replaced by hard-boiled eggs, and olives and capers gave way to pickled cucumbers and green peas. The modern Soviet version became the basis for the salad known today.
Olivier salad became a staple of the Soviet Novy God celebration because its ingredients were available in winter. Its presence at the New Year table was considered as customary as Soviet Champagne or mandarin oranges. This tradition persists in Russia and post-Soviet states today.
Stolichny salad is the version in which the sausage is replaced with boiled or smoked chicken. The name traces back to Ivan Ivanov's version, which he sold under the name metropolitan salad at the Moskva restaurant after leaving Olivier's employ. Both names have entered common use in post-Soviet states.
In the early 20th century, a large community of Russians known as Shanghai Russians settled in Shanghai, forming the largest European group in the city. Through them, Olivier salad entered local cooking and became one of the most popular dishes in Haipai cuisine. The Shanghai version uses potatoes, egg whites, and a locally produced sausage similar to Polish kielbasa.