diff --git a/dsp/modules/ollama.py b/dsp/modules/ollama.py
index 7781583be..3ea025c8a 100644
--- a/dsp/modules/ollama.py
+++ b/dsp/modules/ollama.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import datetime
 import hashlib
-from typing import Any, Literal
+from typing import Any, Literal, Optional
 
 import requests
 
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ class OllamaLocal(LM):
         model_type (Literal["chat", "text"], optional): The type of model that was specified. Mainly to decide the optimal prompting strategy. Defaults to "text".
         base_url (str):  Protocol, host name, and port to the served ollama model. Defaults to "http://localhost:11434" as in ollama docs.
         timeout_s (float): Timeout period (in seconds) for the post request to llm.
+        format (str): The format to return a response in. Currently the only accepted value is `json`
+        system (str): System Prompt to use when running in `text` mode.
         **kwargs: Additional arguments to pass to the API.
     """
 
@@ -42,6 +44,8 @@ def __init__(
         presence_penalty: float = 0,
         n: int = 1,
         num_ctx: int = 1024,
+        format: Optional[Literal["json"]] = None,
+        system: Optional[str] = None,
         **kwargs,
     ):
         super().__init__(model)
@@ -51,6 +55,8 @@ def __init__(
         self.base_url = base_url
         self.model_name = model
         self.timeout_s = timeout_s
+        self.format = format
+        self.system = system
 
         self.kwargs = {
             "temperature": temperature,
@@ -86,9 +92,18 @@ def basic_request(self, prompt: str, **kwargs):
             "options": {k: v for k, v in kwargs.items() if k not in ["n", "max_tokens"]},
             "stream": False,
         }
+        
+        # Set the format if it was defined
+        if self.format:
+            settings_dict["format"] = self.format
+            
         if self.model_type == "chat":
             settings_dict["messages"] = [{"role": "user", "content": prompt}]
         else:
+            # Overwrite system prompt defined in modelfile
+            if self.system:
+                settings_dict["system"] = self.system
+    
             settings_dict["prompt"] = prompt
 
         urlstr = f"{self.base_url}/api/chat" if self.model_type == "chat" else f"{self.base_url}/api/generate"