The zoo was opened in 1976 by Louis Roothooft, a former captain. He used to live near Antwerp where he had a private collection of foreign animals. He bought some land in Olmen and moved his animals to the new location. The Olmen Zoo was founded. As Roothooft loved the circus a big circus tent was soon placed. Each day the animal carers did performance acts with the animals. Roothooft died mid 1990s and the park was sold to the family Verheyen in 1995.
The new owners also had a private collection of animals which were now transported to Olmen.
After a reconstruction the park has got name Palawi Park on the 28th of April, 2019.
The chimpanzee presented in Pakawi Park are the eastern chimpanzee. The eastern chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) is a subspecies of the common chimpanzee. It is native to the Central African Republic, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania