Greetings from the Philippines. I have been living and working here for about a year. Had to restart my bonsai collection and was fascinated by the black olive (called bushida) here. After killing five or six of them, I got some advice from the experts at the bonsai club of the University of the Philippines. Almost impossible to repot them. If you do, do very little root pruning and retain as much of the original soil as possible. So in about two months when the rains begin again I will purchase a couple and see if that is in fact the secret. Have also discovered that it almost impossible to grow them from cuttings or by air-layering. Seems the only way is to wait for seed to drop onto the soil, and tease the newly germinated plants out and into a rather large pot. Someone if Florida claims to have some success in growing them from tip cuttings in a very damp spagnum moss. May try that as well. Good luck, as they are an interesting tree, almost self creating into a bonsai style. I have however seen several here in semi cascade style as well.

Hello mganga!
How nice to correspond with somebody in the Philippines. The Internet is quite wonderful.
I deduce from your answer that I may as well throw this tree out and stop fussing over it. I wonder, though, why anybody would plant it in a bonsai pot, to LOOK like a bonsai tree, and sell it knowing full well that it will die as soon as its new owner does pretty much anything to it?
On top of that, we don't have a rainy season like yours, not to mention that I live at 2000ft above sea level and the air is on the dry side.
The whole thing has been an education in humility.
Having said that, it's also fun.
All good wishes to your beautiful country.
Krys