This paper deals with rapid pyrolysis of agricultural residues such as olive waste and straw at high temperature (800 -1000degreesC) in a free-fall reactor at pilot scale. The conditions are of interest for gasification in fluidized beds where rapid pyrolysis plays an important role as first stage. The objective of the work is to study the effect of the process conditions such as heating rate, temperature and particle size on the product distribution, gas composition and char reactivity. A higher temperature and smaller particles increase the heating rate resulting in a decreased char yield. The cracking of the hydrocarbons with an increase in the hydrogen content is favoured by a higher temperature and by using smaller particles. Wood gives more volatiles and less char than straw and olive waste. The higher ash content in agricultural residues favours the charring reactions. The higher lignin content in olive waste results in a higher char yield in comparison with straw. Chars from olive waste and straw are more reactive in gasification than chars from birch because of the higher ash content.