since they are usually packed in brine, I like to drain all the brine out of the bottle and replace with tap water. makes them taste better to me. I think olives are good for you in moderation as Julia Child used to say. since I like to eat them I am going to stay with the idea that they are good for me.

Charles, I do the exact opposite (if that is possible in this case).  I love olives and never thought of just dumping out the brine.  That's good flavor!  So when the olives are gone I save the brine, and then I add it to the water when I make rice or quinoa of the like.  It's a free shot of flavoring.

Also, I invented an olive dip that is delicious and not too heavy in these warm summer months.  In the food processor, dump in a can of drained and rinsed white beans, a small handful of green olives and process it, then add just enough olive oil to make it come together into a "dip" consistency.  Yummy on crackers or sliced yellow squash.  And tastes so "olivy"!

I have never looked closely at the ingredients in a bottle of olives. Are there any sort of chemicals in there?

my go to dip is equal parts refried beans and Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles. add a couple of tablespoons or so of ranch dressing.  blend well. I am partial to the Calidad brand corn chips for dipping.

Here are the ingredients on a bottle of olives from my fridge: Queen olives, water, garlic paste (water, garlic, sodium alginate, guar gum, calcium chloride, citric acid) salt, lactic acid, ascorbic acid.       

So, not pure but also not gawd-awful chemical-wise. Of course, they are supposed to be salty; that's probably the reason I love them so much.

is the garlic paste in the olive? I've never heard of that. I usually just get pimentos in the olives.

Yes, these are "garlic stuffed olives". 

I got some olives recently that were stuffed with feta cheese. interesting flavor. The olives were very large.

I use olive brine in all kinds of things, like deviled eggs, dips, sandwich spreads, and some cold salads , marinades and salad dressing.

It's salty, for sure, but it also can have a lot of other flavors, depending on what the olive is stuffed with, or just plain olives.