Rolie Polie Olie focuses on the Polie family, who live in a teapot-shaped house named Housey in a geometric world (Planet Polie, which in itself is located in a whole galaxy) populated by robot-based characters. The stories revolve around a young robot named Olie learning life lessons and going on wacky adventures (either real or imaginative) while growing up. These often include his younger sister Zowie, his inventor father Percy, his hard-working mother Polina, his fun-loving grandfather Pappy, and his dog Spot. Although most of the main cast consists of circular bots, other characters are featured in other shapes, such as Olie's friend Billy Bevel and his family, who are square-shaped bots from Planet Cubey.

Rolie Polie Olie won a Gemini Award in Canada for "Best Animated Program" in 1999. The show also won a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Special Class Animated Program" in 2000 and 2005. William Joyce won a 1999 Daytime Emmy for Best Production Design for this series.