Objective To investigate the effect of oleanolic acid (OA) on apoptosis, correlation between apoptosis and intracellular calcium, and its mechanism in human lung adenocarcinoma cell line A549. Methods Human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells were incubated in vitro and assigned with OA concentrations of 0, 10, 20 and 40μg/mL. The apoptosis status of A549 cell line was detected with Annexin V-FITC/PI by flow cytometry (FCM); fluorescence intensity (FI) of A549 cells was assessed and the level of intracellular calcium was calculated at 24 hour of OA intervention. The relation between apoptosis and calcium FI was illustrated by curve fitting. Results FCM showed that 10, 20 and 40μg/mL of OA could induce A549 cell apoptosis, which followed a concentration-effect pattern; 24-hour intervention with 20μg/mL and 40μg/mL OA showed increased A549 cell apoptosis, and was significantly different from that with 0μg/mL OA (P<0.01). The FI of intracellular calcium concentration in 10, 20 and 40μg/mL OA groups was significantly higher than that in 0μg/mL group after 24 hours' intervention, and the FI showed a trend of increase with increased OA concentration (P<0.01). Curve fitting showed a significant correlation between apoptosis rate and intracellular calcium concentration in A549 cells (r=0.981, P<0.01). Regression equation was Y=0.508X-1.627. Conclusion OA plays a role in inducing apoptosis of human lung adenocarcinoma cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The OA-induced apoptosis is responsible for intracellular calcium overload of the tumor.