In the early 20th century, Kharkiv scholar Archpriest P. Fomin believed that the Olshany icons were not monuments of Slobozhanshchyna. However, an analysis of literature, iconography, and details of the images allows us to assert that they belong to Slobozhansky icon painting of the second quarter of the 18th century. Under the influence of the icon-painting workshop of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the Olshany icons demonstrate a uniqueness of iconography and an original ornamental background.

In the early 20th century, a virtually unknown phenomenon of Ukrainian sacred art, the Slobozhansky icon, was discovered. However, research was interrupted by the events of 1917, and from the 1920s, systematic destruction began. Today, 99% of the objects of church art from Slobozhanshchyna of the 17th and 18th centuries are studied through black-and-white photographs, so new findings cause a sensation.

In the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Olshany, the oldest wooden church in Slobozhanshchyna, icons from the local row of the iconostasis of the 18th century have been preserved. Despite the interest of scholars in the early 20th century, they have still not become the subject of separate scientific research. Considering that no Slobozhansky iconostasis has survived, the Olshany monuments are key to studying the rest of the black-and-white heritage of church art in Slobozhanshchyna.

The wooden St. Nicholas Church in Olshany, according to Kharkiv scholars P. Fomin and S. Taranushenko, was built in 1753 and consecrated by St. Joasaph of Belgorod. However, historian K. Shchelkov believed that the church was rebuilt in 1753, having been constructed much earlier. Archbishop Filaret Gumilevsky reported that the church is mentioned from 1724, and the records begin from 1726. In 1877, a major repair of the foundation was carried out, and in 1911 and 1913, the church was expanded.

In 1928, S. Taranushenko conducted research on the St. Nicholas Church and other churches of Olshany. Archbishop of Kharkiv and Akhtyrka Filaret Gumilevsky was the first to introduce the Olshany icons into scientific circulation, noting them as works deserving attention: "the icons are painted in the Greek style and, despite their age, have not lost their pictorial quality."

Archpriest P. Fomin wrote in the early 20th century that the foundation of the Nicholas parish is connected with the resettlement of the Zadniprovsk Ukrainians in the late 17th century. Following Filaret, he drew attention to four ancient icons of the church, hypothesizing their Zadniprovsk origin: "the icons are painted on linden boards against a golden relief background. The waist-length images are almost life-sized. The character of the work impresses with its meticulousness and lavish decoration. The technique of the icon is clearly Cherkasy, but the manner of depicting faces and garments shows noticeable Catholic influence."

After the revolution, the Olshany icons were not studied. In 1928, the first attempt at their restoration was made, but it was done unprofessionally. During the Soviet era, the icon of St. Barbara the Great Martyr was lost. In 2009, the icons underwent restoration at the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts under the guidance of N. V. Berestyuk.

Currently, out of the four local icons of the St. Nicholas Church in Olshany, three have survived: the icons of Christ, the Mother of God, and St. Nicholas, while the icon of St. Barbara has been lost. The icons are made in the Baroque style, representing generational images on a relief gilded background with stucco floral ornamentation. Above and on the sides of the icons, there is a border, which is absent at the bottom, possibly indicating a later change in format. The four Olshany icons constituted the local row of the iconostasis. In 1911, after the church's renovation, a new iconostasis was installed, which has survived to this day, while the old icons were placed in wall niches.