Ted Lasso star Nick Mohammed hosted the 50th anniversary edition of the awards, a star-studded ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall where Ian McKellen, Helen Mirren, Vanessa Williams and Andrew Lloyd Webber were among the trophy presenters.
Leading the nominations for Britain's equivalent of Broadway's Tony Awards, with 11 apiece, are homegrown heart-warmer Paddington: The Musical and a much-praised revival of Stephen Sondheim's twisted fairy tale journey Into the Woods.
Paddington won the prize for its set design early in the ceremony, before the show turned to acting awards.
Pike was named best actress in a play for playing a judge forced to question the justice system and her own ethics in Inter Alia.
Jack Holden took the best actor prize for playing multiple roles in small-town murder mystery Kenrex.
They beat a star-studded list of acting nominees that included Blanchett, Bryan Cranston, Marianne-Jean Baptiste and Tom Hiddleston.
Supporting performer prizes went to Paapa Essiedu for Arthur Miller's classic drama All My Sons and Julie Hesmondhalgh for crime and redemption story Punch.
The category of best actor in a musical includes a joint nomination for James Hameed and Arti Shah, who together play the titular marmalade-loving Peruvian bear in Paddington.
Hameed provides the voice and remote puppetry, while Shah inhabits the bear costume onstage.
The ceremony included performances from nominated musicals and numbers marking two significant anniversaries: 40 years of Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, and 20 years of Wicked in the West End.
Stage star Elaine Paige, who is known for her leading roles in hit musicals including Cats, Evita, Sunset Boulevard and Piaf, received this year's Special Award.
The Olivier Awards were founded in 1976 and named after the late actor-director Laurence Olivier.
The winners are chosen by voting groups of stage professionals and theatregoers.
London's West End is celebrating a strong post-pandemic return, buoyed by new musicals such as Paddington and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, and revivals including director Jamie Lloyd's bold staging of Evita.
The Society of London Theatre, an industry umbrella group, says ticket sales have surpassed the levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic. Shows in the West End — the collective name for London's theatreland — attracted 17.6 million visitors in 2025, three million more than Broadway.
But there are concerns about rising ticket prices and soaring production budgets, fuelled by higher costs for labour, materials and energy.
"Theatres are busier than ever, but many are operating with far less financial headroom," the society said in a report published last month.
