Never Say Too Old : Law enforcement: Laid-off defense worker Edward Olivares, 59, trains hard and sets an LAPD age record as a new officer.

By age 59, most people are looking forward to retirement, to a time when they can reap the benefits of their life’s work and reflect on the strange twists and turns along the way.

But at that age, rookie police Officer Edward Olivares has caught a second wind and is looking forward to the strange twists and turns that still lie ahead:

On Sunday, he took the first step of his second career, becoming the Los Angeles Police Department’s oldest rookie ever.

“I found out that LAPD was hiring and that my age was not a barrier, and I said to myself, ‘This is something that I can be proud of for the rest of my life,’ ” Olivares said Sunday as he lifted weights before his first patrol shift in the Foothill Division.

His graduation last week from the Police Academy was the culmination of two years of physical training to transform himself from an overweight, laid-off defense worker to what he calls a “lean machine.”

Since he left aerospace in December, 1990, Olivares has shed 65 pounds of fat, replacing at least part of it with 20 pounds of muscle. In between, the West Point graduate finished a cooking course at the famed Cordon Bleu school in Paris, but found chef jobs even scarcer than positions in aerospace.

His workout Sunday was overrun by reporters, photographers and even a few fellow officers who stopped by just to witness the news media spectacle.

“I just watched him up in the weight room and it was impressive,” said 23-year veteran Sgt. Al Yarbrough, the station’s day watch commander. “People are kind of in awe of this guy because we went through the academy in our 20s, and it was tough.”

It was tough for Olivares too. He failed the self-defense skills test and a hearing exam the first time, but passed both on his second try.

“I wanted to make it,” he said. “There was never a time when I felt like quitting.”

In fact, in the first few weeks of his 28-week academy training, Olivares told his classmates that no one could quit until he did.

Olivares’ new career is possible because a 1992 decision by the city’s Police Commission abolished the department’s age limit of 34 for new recruits. The change was made to comply with federal anti-discrimination laws.

But Olivares was a determined man long before then.

After he was laid off from his job as an aerospace project leader, Olivares began working out. He slowly built up his endurance until his daily workout included a five-mile run, 20 laps in a 30-foot pool at his Calabasas condo, and lifting weights for 90 minutes.

The rookie officer is careful to point out that he is not a power lifter, that he trains more for endurance and conditioning than for the physiques developed by “gym rats.”

“I’m way past the time of being Mr. Universe,” he conceded.

One of the biggest obstacles to becoming a police officer was his wife, Barbara. Not that she wanted to stand in the way of his dream, but she was concerned for his safety in the job--particularly after the death of Christy Lynne Hamilton, the 45-year-old rookie who was shot and killed on duty in February.

Olivares said his wife acquiesced when he explained that the statistical odds of dying in a freeway crash were higher than being killed as a police officer.

For the past three weeks, Olivares has ridden along with veteran officers to get a feel for the streets. Once, he drew his weapon, but only in a backup role.

On another ride-along, he and his partner answered a domestic violence call at a house set apart on a hill. Aware of the risks, and without cover or backup, the officers clung to a brick wall as they approached the house. Olivares’ partner then made a 30-yard dash to a nearby tree while the new officer served as lookout.

“It turned out to be a non-event,” he said. “The wife was the only one home.”

Olivares is a 1957 West Point graduate who spent three years in the Army, then remained in the reserves with the rank of captain. As he did in his other working life, he plans to move up quickly in the ranks of the Police Department.

“I don’t expect to be on patrol in the streets for that long,” he said. “I want to try to get into detectives as soon as the department allows. I want to use my analytical and report-writing capabilities.”

Others think he will succeed.

“I think the guy should get a fair shot,” Yarbrough said. “Probably about one-third of the people who make detective or sergeant have only four or five years on the job. It’s a reasonable expectation.”