High-temperature in situ Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements (300-950 • C) were done on synthetic olivine of composition (Mg 0.55 Fe 0.45 ) 2 SiO 4 (=Fa45) in order to study the distribution of Fe 2+ over the M1 and M2 octahedral sites. The spectra are fit with two doublets, which are assigned to Fe 2+ at the M1 (smaller splitting) and M2 sites. The Fe 2+ site-occupancies at M1 and M2, obtained from the Mössbauer relative areas, suggest that Fe 2+ has a slight preference for the M1 site at temperatures below ∼500 • C, with a tendency of disordering around this temperature. At higher temperatures, Fe 2+ again prefers to occupy the M1 site, where it shows a considerable order at this site up to 750 • C. At still higher temperatures, the spectra indicated partial reduction of the Fa-component into metallic iron and the resolution of the doublets was severely deteriorated.