Office Olympics - Production

Production

"Office Olympics" was written by Michael Schur. This episode was the first episode of the series directed by Paul Feig. Producer Greg Daniels said the idea for the actual Office Olympics stemmed from The King of the Hill Office Olympics, which were created and ran by Daniel's former assistant Tim Croston and the show's two production assistants at the time: Tony Gennaro and Seranie Manoogian. The games were held in the King of the Hill offices, where Daniel served as executive producer. Daniels later elaborated on the types of games they played, stating "Like, who’s going to get off the elevator first and races in chairs. The funny thing is then it became a TV episode and it has now gone full circle and I hear offices are doing it all over." After the episode aired, other "Office Olympics" were organized in actual offices across the country. The Chicago Tribune organized an interview with a majority of The Office cast members who—in character—explained the rules to the various games. The Yogurt Lid Medals reappear in the third season finale, "The Job": Receiving the lid and a note from Pam is the catalyst for Jim's decision between Pam and Karen.

When choosing Michael's car for the episode, producer Kent Zbornak brought in pictures of various cars and had the writers choose which one they thought Michael would most likely own. The writers ended up choosing a Chrysler Sebring convertible, because according to B. J. Novak "we figured it's the showiest car that he could afford". While shooting the scene in Michael's car, cameraman Randall Einhorn accidentally broke the back window, which ended up costing $859 to replace.

Writer Mike Schur made a cameo appearance in the episode, playing Dwight's Amish cousin Mose. The idea for Schur to be Dwight's Amish cousin had been a joke among the writers since the first season. Mose was based on an actual participant, with the same name, on the UPN reality show Amish in the City.