The 1981 Mr. Olympia contest was an IFBB professional bodybuilding competition held on October 10, 1981, at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Columbus, Ohio. Following the 1980 Mr. Olympia political controversy, a number of favored bodybuilders boycotted the event, including Frank Zane, Mike Mentzer, and Boyer Coe.^[1] Franco Columbu, who had not competed since winning the 1976 Olympia due to a career threatening knee injury suffered at the 1977 World's Strongest Man competition, returned and won his second title, officially retiring after the event.

Total prize money awarded was $50,000.

Place	Prize	Name	Points	Posedown	Total
1	$25,000	Franco Columbu[2]	294	2	296
2		Chris Dickerson	289	2	291
3		Tom Platz	288	2	290
4		Roy Callender	286	0	286
5		Danny Padilla	281	1	282
6		Jusup Wilkosz	270
7		Dennis Tinerino	265
8		Jonny Fuller	264
9		Samir Bannout	263
10		Roger Walker	261
11		Hubert Metz	252
12		Carlos Rodriguez	249
13		Ed Corney	246
14		Steve Davis	241
15		Mike Katz	237
16		Ken Waller	235
17		Jorma Raty	234

• Mr. Olympia