The fictional character of Olivia, by children's author Ian Falconer, is what type of animal?

Ian Woodward Falconer (born August 25, 1959) is an American author and illustrator of children's books and a designer of sets and costumes for the theater. He has created 30 covers for "The New Yorker" as well as other publications. Falconer wrote and illustrated the "Olivia" series of children's books, chronicling the adventures of a young pig, a series initially conceived as a Christmas gift for his young niece. Born in Ridgefield, Connecticut, Falconer graduated from The Cambridge School of Weston, studied art history at New York University, and studied painting at Parsons School of Design and the Otis Art Institute. Unlike Children's book author's of previous generations, Falconer has always been openly gay.

Olivia is a fictional pig character in a series of children's books written and illustrated by Ian Falconer. The "Olivia" book series was inspired by Ian Falconer's niece, Olivia. "I was just entranced by her," he stated. "I wanted to make a little present for her, so I started working on the "Olivia" book."

The series is different from many children's picture books because of its stark minimalism. Inspired by the style of Dr. Seuss, Falconer chose to draw uncluttered images in black and white with the occasional splash of red, along with the insertion of real artwork by famous artists — Degas and Pollock, for example.

"Olivia" books have been translated into many languages including Czech, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch and Chinese.