Commander abilities

[Anoobass]

Say I have {Oloro, Ageless Ascetic} in my command zone, can I still pay 1 colorless whenever I gain life to draw a card.  I'm conflicted to whether it's a yes or no as emblems are in the command zone and work 100% while they are there.  But a friend asked a question that if {Ruric Thar, the Unbowed} was in the command zone would his ability work.
The only thing that makes me say Oloro works and Ruric doesn't is because a creature can't deal damage from the command zone.

Thank you :)

[Sardok]

Nope, abilities on creature cards don't work when they are not on the battlefield unless specifically stated otherwise (such as {Gravecrawler}).

You cannot pay {1} to draw a card when {Oloro} is in the command zone.

[Kaleo42]

The first ruling in gatherer confirms the answer above.