Can anyone know the history of russian salad?

Answer 1

"In [Russia] salads are not historically nor usually a combination of raw vegetables slathered in some dressing as they are in the West. Traditionally they are a mixture of cooked vegetables, meats, eggs, poultry, fish or some combination of the same."
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976743914

Seeing that Eastern Europeans have always (it seems!) eaten salads consisting of much more than just lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber, etc, I think it would always have been around, and possibly "upmarketed" by M Olivier. In my own country, a mix of vegetables, meat and fish all together is called "Rassol", like the Estonian one mentioned in the above. I found a line on the net saying that it would have been called "Russian" salad because originally caviar was also added to it.

I know that it is not specifically the only salad that Russians eat or ate - probably the name comes from the rest of the world when M Olivier introduced it as coming from there! First paragraph here:
http://www.iht.com/articles/1993/01/15/word.php

See also here (scroll down a little):
http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/SaladHistory.htm

Answer 2

Salad Olivier - A Russian-origin salad of potatoes with chicken, pickles, green peas, carrots bound with mayonnaise. Also known as Russian Salad or salade a la Russe. This salad appears at most festive meals in Russia.

History: Historians believe that this salad was the creation of a French chef, M. Olivier, owner and chef of The Hermitage restaurant in Moscow, Russia in the 1860s. Originally cold roast game was used in the salad instead of chicken.