To apprehend plate tectonics and the dynamics of the lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary, composed principally of olivine, we need to understand the mechanisms that control plastic deformation of olivine in the relevant temperature domain. After more than 50 years of laboratory studies and investigations on natural rocks, the interplay of several key parameters (e.g. temperature, pressure, vacancy concentration, dislocation densities, grain size, strain rate) controlling polycrystalline olivine plasticity remains difficult to assess. Here, we study four olivine polycrystals, which have been deformed in axial compression under a confining pressure of 300 MPa, at 1273 or 1473 K. Despite significant differences in mechanical properties (stress–strain curves), previous characterization by scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) did not reveal significant differences in dislocation microstructures which could explain these contrasted behaviours. We have undertaken automatic crystallographic orientation mapping (ACOM) analyses in TEM to increase the spatial resolution of characterization compared to previously obtained electron backscatter diffraction maps to further decipher the microstructures at nanoscale. With this novel technique applied to olivine, a noticeable difference in the onset of microstructural recovery has been identified between specimens deformed at 1273 and 1473 K. The microstructures of the olivine polycrystals deformed at 1473 K exhibit numerous curved grain and subgrain boundaries, advocating for recovery by boundary migration. In contrast, the microstructures of the olivine polycrystals deformed at 1273 K have significantly fewer subgrain boundaries and show more straight boundaries (i.e. closer to an equilibrium microstructure) than in the specimen deformed at 1473 K. Characterization by ACOM-TEM has permitted the identification of the onset of recovery, which is led by boundary migration even for very low macroscopic finite strains.