The greedy Olalla rat is an arboreal spiny rat reaching about 23 cm in head-and-body length. It is reported to feed on bamboo leaves and stems at night, and its known distribution rests on few Andean records.
Its thick tail is longer than the body, with the final third described as white. The back is yellow-brown; the underside is paler, with white extending along the midline and onto the throat, cheeks, and chin.
It is described as solitary, nocturnal, and arboreal. Its diet is mainly bamboo leaves and stems, and records place it in dense montane forest, especially bamboo thickets near streams.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.