Adding chopped olives

I decided to try making some Kalamata olive bread. I bought some barley flour (I vaguely remembered that the bread I used to buy had some barley flour in it) and some pitted Kalamata olives.

I used Floyd's Pain Sur Poolish recipe. Made a poolish with KA white whole wheat and water, the next morning added 4 cups of flour (mixture of barley, www, and white bread flour, light on the barley) and a cup of liquid (some olive oil, rest water). Started kneading it in the Kitchenaid. It was kneading up beautifully. Clung to the hook, formed a blob, but not dry.

How to add the olives? I thought perhaps I should add them during kneading, so threw in the chopped olives for the last couple of minutes of kneading. 

I think this was a mistake. As the olives were kneaded into the dough, it softened and darkened. The dough continued soft all during the risings and when baked, produced moist, flat bread without much oomph. I'm not sure I like the taste, either. It ALL tastes of olive.

I'm guessing that what I should have done was make sure that the chopped olives were thoroughly dry, flour them, and then incorporate them with some light hand kneading. That would have kept the contrast between the bread and the olive. Yes?