Just so we're clear, OLE stands for
Object Linking and
Embedding.
OLE is Microsoft's compound document protocol for Windows. It allows information produced by one application to be embedded in another application's document. The "client" application creates the document; the "server" application creates an object within the document. When a user accesses an embedded object in a client application, the server application is loaded and the appropriate data file is retrieved. Typical business reports may contain information in a variety of formats, including text and numbers, charts, tables, images, graphics, sound, video, blah blah. This information is created in separate application programs (e.g., spreadsheet, word processing, charting, database) and is merged into a single document (i.e., the report). OLE keeps track of those links and updates the various components as they change.