The amorphous phase of the natural mineral olivine was synthesized to investigate its mechanical properties. Tensile tests with in situ optical microscopy revealed brittle behaviour of amorphous olivine. Using digital image correlation, we estimated the intrinsic strength of amorphous olivine to be about 1.8 GPa. The measured intrinsic strength of amorphous olivine should help to better identify the “weak link” that initiates or promotes macroscopic material failure.