Biography
Date of Birth
13 December 1986, Los Angeles, California, USA
Nickname
MK
Height
5' 2" (1.57 m)
Mini Biography
Mary-Kate Olsen (born June 13, 1986) is an American actress, fashion designer, producer, author, and businesswoman. She co-founded luxury fashion brands The Row, Elizabeth and James, and the more affordable lines Olsenboye and StyleMint alongside her identical twin sister Ashley Olsen. Olsen pursued acting independently as an adult until 2012. She is the older sister of actress Elizabeth Olsen.
Mary-Kate was born in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Jarnette "Jarnie", a personal manager, and David "Dave" Olsen, a real estate developer and mortgage banker. Along with her twin, Ashley, she has an older brother, Trent, a younger sister, Elizabeth Olsen, and two half siblings from her father's second marriage. Olsen's parents divorced in 1996.
Along with Ashley, Olsen was cast at the age of nine months to share the role of Michelle Tanner on the ABC sitcom Full House. The Olsen twins portrayed Michelle throughout the series' 1987-95 run. In the early 1990s, she and Ashley established a company, Dualstar, which produced a long string of TV movies and direct-to-video releases featuring the girls. The Olsens continued to release direct-to-video films up to the early 2000s, along with starring in the 1995 feature film It Takes Two. In 1997, the Olsen twins guest starred in an episode of Sister, Sister, alongside rival twin actresses Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry. After Full House, the sisters starred in two other sitcoms (Two of a Kind and So Little Time) and an animated series (Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action!). The former lasted one season while the latter ran for two seasons. These ventures, combined with an array of licensing deals for their names and likenesses, made Olsen wealthy at a young age. In 2004, Olsen's wealth was estimated at $137 million.
Olsen and her sister became co-presidents of Dualstar upon their eighteenth birthday. Olsen's first solo acting appearance was in the movie Factory Girl, released in December 2006. Olsen's one short scene was ultimately cut from theatrical release, but was included on the film's DVD. In 2007, the sisters said that if they became involved in movies together again it would be as producers. Olsen had a recurring role on Weeds . In 2008, she appeared in The Wackness. At the Sundance Film Festival, Academy Award-winner Sir Ben Kingsley, her co-star' praised her. In 2008 Olsen also made a guest appearance on the ABC comedy Samantha Who? as a self-destructive girl that Samantha tries to help. Olsen appeared in the motion picture adaption of the Alex Flinn novel Beastly. Beastly was Mary-Kate's final acting project.
In March 2012, both Mary-Kate and Ashley indicated their interest to retire as actresses in order to focus on their careers in fashion. Mary-Kate and Ashley felt that their futures were in fashion, and not in acting. They discussed wanting to open a store as one of their future fashion-based endeavors.
In 2015 it was announced that John Stamos signed on with Netflix to produce and co-star in Fuller House, a spin-off Full House that would reunite the original cast members for a 13-episode series. Mary-Kate and Ashley originally announced in May 2015 that they will not reprise their role as Michelle Tanner.
Nickelodeon acquired the rights to the Olsen twins' video library in 2015.
In 1993, following Mary-Kate and Ashley's success on Full House, a limited liability company, Dualstar was created to produce Mary-Kate and Ashley-branded products.
In 2004, both Mary-Kate and Ashley took control of Dualstar, becoming joint-CEOs and presidents of the company, which at the time had its merchandise being carried in over 3,000 stores in America and 5,300 stores worldwide.
Mary-Kate and her twin Ashley's success has been marked by their inclusion on every Forbes The Celebrity 100 list since 2002. In 2007 Forbes ranked the twins jointly as the eleventh-richest women in entertainment, with an estimated combined net worth of $100 million.
Following a high volume of public interest in their fashion choices, the sisters began work in collaboration on a string of fashion lines available to the public. Starting as young girls, the Olsen twins started a clothing line in Wal-Mart stores across America for girls ages 4 to 14 as well as a beauty line called "Mary-Kate and Ashley: Real fashion for real girls". In 2004 they made news by signing a pledge to allow all the workers that sew their line of clothing in Bangladesh full maternity leave. The National Labor Committee, which organized the pledge, later praised the twins for their commitment to worker rights.
In 2006, in an attempt to gain credibility in the fashion industry after their association with Wal-Mart tarnished their reputations, they were tapped as the faces of the upscale fashion line Badgley Mischka.
As adults, the Olsen twins have devoted much of their attention to the world of fashion. They head a couture fashion label, "The Row," as well as "Elizabeth and James", "Olsenboye", and "StyleMint" retail collections. Mary-Kate's sometimes controversial fashion choices have often found her on both the best and worst dressed fashion lists, particularly for her decision to wear fur. Mary-Kate and Ashley designed an Olsenboye Change Purse in 2011 and donated the money to "Pennies From Heaven".
In 2011, Mary-Kate and Ashley teamed up with TOMS Shoes to design footwear for kids without shoes in more than 20 countries worldwide. Mary-Kate and Ashley are now the creative directors for Superga. Mary-Kate and Ashley released an Elizabeth and James perfume in Spring 2013. They won the top prize at the 2012 CFDA Fashion Awards. StyleMint is now available in the UK.
In October 2012, Mary-Kate and Ashley won the WSJ magazine Innovator of The Year Award.
Mary Kate was nominated for Council Of Fashion Designers in 2015.
In 2008, the Olsen twins co-authored Influence, a book featuring interviews with fashion designers that have inspired the twins' fashion lines.
Olsen has dated David Katzenberg, son of DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg; photographer Maxwell Snow; and artist Nate Lowman.
In May 2012, Olsen began a relationship with Olivier Sarkozy, half brother of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy. In March 2014, photos were published showing Olsen wearing what appeared to be an engagement ring. Olsen and Sarkozy were married on November 27, 2015 at a private residence in New York City.
In 2014, Olsen competed in the Hamptons Horse Show. In 2013, her horse Marvelous competed in and won the 38th Hampton Classic Horse Show.
In mid-2004, Olsen announced she had entered treatment for anorexia nervosa. A Got Milk? ad featuring the twins was pulled following the announcement. On November 20, 2007, she was hospitalized for a reported kidney infection.
Mary-Kate was a close friend of late actor Heath Ledger. After discovering Ledger unconscious in his bed in January 2008, his masseuse called Olsen twice before contacting police. Olsen sent a private security guard to the scene.
Responding to a claim by an anonymous law enforcement official that she would not speak to federal investigators without a promise of legal immunity, Olsen's attorney Michael C. Miller said, "We have provided the government with relevant information including facts in the chronology of events surrounding Mr. Ledger's death and the fact that Ms. Olsen does not know the source of the drugs Mr. Ledger consumed".
Trivia
Twin sister of Ashley Olsen.
When she was young, she and Ashley used to call their Full House (1987) co-stars by their characters' names so they would not mess them up during taping.
Older sister of Elizabeth Olsen. Younger sister of Trent Olsen. Has a younger half-sister, Taylor Olsen, and a younger half-brother, Jake Olsen.
In real life, she and Ashley are very close to John Stamos, who played their uncle Jesse on Full House (1987).
Enjoys shopping, going to the movies, listening to rock music (ie., Counting Crows), cheer leading and Tae Bo with her sister.
Has two horses, CD and Star, and has won several prizes with them.
She and Ashley both had to wear fake teeth during the later years of Full House (1987) because their baby teeth were falling out. However, the director made an exception when the girls lost their two front teeth.
At age 6, she and Ashley became the youngest producers in history.
Had a bi-monthly magazine called "Mary-Kate and Ashley Magazine" that only ran for three issues.
Had a line of clothing with sister Ashley that was sold at Wal-Mart until 2006.
In 1993, she and Ashley were supposed to play young Eves (Teena and Cindy) on The X-Files (1993), but were eventually replaced by the Krievins twins (Erika Krievins and Sabrina Krievins) from the nearby city of Vancouver. The reason was very strict child labor laws.
Ranked #61 in the 2003 FHM list of 100 Sexiest Women in the World.
On their 17th birthday (June 13, 2003), CNN announced not only their birthday, but their total financial worth - $150,000,000 for each of them. The same news source predicted the twins may be billionaires by the time they turn 21.
During the earlier seasons of Full House (1987), the producers did not want this known that Michelle was played by twins, so Mary-Kate and Ashley were credited as Mary Kate Ashley Olsen.
She and her sister became the youngest self-made millionaires in American history before they were 10 years old.
Voted the 20th most wanted young star for the new year by Access Hollywood (1996) and The-N networks. Her twin sister Ashley wasn't part of the honor.
Her favorite band is Dave Matthews
Mary-Kate is younger than her twin sister Ashley by about two minutes.
On June 22, 2004, she has reportedly entered a program for treatment of an eating disorder.
Her favorite movie from 1986 is Labyrinth (1986).
Her favorite party song is "Rock Your Body".
At age 17, she and her twin sister Ashley were rated 2003's second hottest teen female stars.
She and Ashley both missed their high school prom to host Saturday Night Live (1975). The cast made this up to them by giving them a fake prom when they did their monologue.
She donated many signed head-shots to Rocky Stone to be auctioned off to raise money to buy more toys for less fortunate kids as part of the Toy Mountain Campaign 2004.
Ranked #3 in VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid Stars" with sister Ashley
Parents are David Olsen and Jarnette Olsen (divorced).
Likes small specialty shops in Soho, South Beach, and Los Angeles.
Majors in Cuisine at New York University.
Named #32 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement.
Her film New York Minute (2004) earned only $5.96 million during its opening weekend. This was the lowest amount ever earned for any film opening in over 3,000 theaters. The record was later surpassed by Hoot (2006), which earned just $3,368,197 at 3,018 theaters in 2006.
During the filming of Full House (1987), she acted out the comedic scenes while Ashley took on the more serious ones.
While making the film To Grandmother's House We Go (1992) in Canada, she rode her first horse and became a devoted equestrian.
She and her sister Ashley were both ranked #6 in E's 50 cutest child stars all grown-up (2005).
Mentioned in the song "High School Never Ends" by Bowling for Soup.
Is very close to her older cousin Christine.
Hospitalized on November 19, 2007 in New York for a kidney infection.
Was ranked #5 on Forbes List of the 20 Top-Earning Young Superstars with sister Ashley (2007).
In 2004, her wealth was estimated at $137 million.
Close friends with the late Heath Ledger.
She is of Danish and Norwegian descent.
She and her sister, Ashley Olsen, dedicated the Holland-America Line cruise ship, the "MS Zaandam". [May 2000]
With her sister, Ashley Olsen, attended school with Briana Evigan.
Broke up with boyfriend Nate Lowman on February 24, 2010.
Mary-Kate is shorter than her twin sister Ashley by one inch.
Mentioned with her twin sister, Ashley Olsen, in Jay-Z's and Ye's song, "Paris".
Mary-Kate and Ashley decided to quit acting for good and focus on their fashion careers. [March 2012]
Mary-Kate was supposed to play "April" in "Story of a Girl", but the movie has been put on hold. Beastly (2011) was Mary-Kate's final acting project.
She and her twin sister, Ashley Olsen, received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on April 29, 2004.
She helped in raising 2,206 toys for the Less Fortunate Kids as part of the 2005 Toy Mountain Campaign with Kids Talent Agent Rocky Stone. [December 2005]
Mary-Kate and Ashley currently manage four clothing lines called "The Row", "Elizabeth and James", "Olsenboye" and "StyleMint".
Husband Oliver Sarkozy is the half-brother of former French president Nicolas Sarkozy.
She and her twin sister Ashley Olsen are yet the only regulars of Full House (1987) not to appear on its revival Fuller House (2016).
Graduated from Campbell Hall High School in North Hollywood, California, Class of 2004.
She and Ashley Olsen were once dubbed Holland America Teen Admirals.
She and her twin sister, Ashley Olsen, began their schooling at the Christian Nursery School in Los Angeles, California in 1989.
She and her twin sister, Ashley Olsen attended Laurel Hall Lutheran School in North Hollywood, California during the years of 1989-1997.
Once injured her foot before while vacationing on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
She and Ashley Olsen attended Aaron Carter's 13th birthday party. In addition, the singer said that if he was to pick any famous girl to date, it would be Mary-Kate Olsen.
In 1991, she and Ashley Olsen were both placed in 6th place in the Q-Ratings (television popularity rating), with 42% of the people surveyed describing them as one of their favorites.
She and Ashley Olsen were Teen Ambassadors for the 1999 Women's World Cup Soccer.
Attended Dixie Canyon Avenue Elementary School in Sherman Oaks, California.
For college, she and her twin sister, Ashley Olsen attended a couple of years of New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study.
Ex-stepdaughter of McKenzie Olsen.
Her friends used to travel with her and her sister, Ashley Olsen, to their filming locations. Their friends had also been extras in their movies before, a cafeteria scene in The Wonderful World of Disney: Switching Goals (1999) and a scene in Our Lips Are Sealed (2000) that was filmed in Los Angeles.
Learned the 8 dances for her and her sister, Ashley Olsen's, "Dance Party" CD-ROM in only 2-3 hours.
During 8th grade, the only class she and her sister, Ashley Olsen had together was French and it was their first year taking a foreign language.
Went to the same school as Ethan Peck, who had played her boyfriend in Passport to Paris (1999).
Her second home at Sherman Oaks had five bedrooms and is 4,800 square feet. It is a ranch style house built in 1940. She and her sister, Ashley Olsen, lived in there for 5 years before moving in 1998.
Hardly ever fights with her sister Ashley Olsen, but the times they fight is usually over clothes.
Has 2 stepchildren: stepson, Julien Sarkozy (b. 2000) & stepdaughter, Margot Sarkozy (b. 2002) with ex-husband, Olivier Sarkozy.
Trademarks:
Smoky, green eyes
Wearing oversized Bohemian-style clothes, oversized sunglasses, and handbags.
Petite-sized body
Sulky, gloomy look
Blonde hair
Hardly ever smiles when photographed.
Quotes
Me and Ashley feel like we're totally different.
[upon taking her SATs] I get extra time to take the test because of my ADD. Everybody has brains works differently and I just need longer for things to register.
[on going to Hollywood parties] I like to go to parties where I know everyone. How are you going to have fun with people you don't know?
I am a really bad test taker. I can get straight As in school, but I get nervous on test.
We get along really well, but television and film aren't reality. We're best friends, but we do have our fights!
We have been roommates our entire lives. We just bought a place together.
I learned how to play the drums. When we were in preproduction, when we were still in L.A., I had a couple of drum lessons and then some in Toronto. I got the one beat down and that was it.
I usually do get the tomboy parts in the movies, which is kind of like me, but not totally. I like to shop as much as Ashley, but she is a little more of a girlie-girl than me.
How can you be organized when you're in Times Square?
Any time that we have time to take off, we love being home.
Australia is so cool that it's hard to even know where to start describing it. The beaches are beautiful; so is the weather. Not too crowded. Great food, great music, really nice people. It must be a lot like Los Angeles was many years ago.
I wear weird things sometimes. I like to drink coffee. Neither of those things have anything to do with who I am.
Our relationship is stronger when we don't live together, so we don't live together. We're separate people, and we have separate lives. But we see each other every single day.
I'm a person that has high highs and low lows. A lot of things make me sad. Sometimes, it's almost easier to be sad. But you do end up finding a balance, and I think that as I get older, I am learning what I can do for myself to make me happy.
We have been trying to teach the media that it's 'Mary-Kate' and 'Ashley' Olsen since we were 12 years old. I guess... I guess you just learn to accept it.
Now that I'm older, I'm more aware of things that make me feel more complete as a person. I'm trying to concentrate on those things as opposed to things that make me feel empty.
The way I see it, you have to take every chance you get because there may not be another one. You have to learn from your mistakes because nobody's perfect. You have to laugh, love & live every day as if it's your last.
[Interview Magazine, Feb 2009] For me, it really started by looking at people. There are just some really beautiful people in the world. When you're walking down the street, or you're at a restaurant, someone catches your eye because they have their own look. It goes way beyond what they're wearing-into their mannerisms, the way they smile, or just the way they hold themselves.
I think everything happens for a reason, so there is no such thing as fail.
[on growing up on television with her twin sister, Marie Claire, 2010] We were little monkey performers. I look at old photos of me, and I don't feel connected to them at all. I would never wish my upbringing on anyone... but I wouldn't take it back for the world. Friends feel sorry for us... because it's kind of bittersweet.
[on her eating disorder, Elle, 2008] Look, I think it's important that what anybody goes through-and I'm not saying that it's true or not true-you realize it's part of growing up. Everybody is going to go through hard times. It's a part of life. I think the hardest part to get to is that point of asking for help or reaching out to other people and being honest with yourself. I do not want to go through my life with my eyes shut. And I don't want to go through it with a closed mind. I want to be aware of things. And I'd rather know than not know."
I am the cute one! She's just my sister.
Well that's what I generally do with books - I read them.
The best part was the food. There are some great Italian restaurants we go to whenever we are in Toronto, so the eating was a definite highlight.
Our career is a dream. I mean, we get to act, travel around the world, and meet cool people. What's not to love!
A twin knows exactly when the other one is spitting up, but that's all they know about anything.
I made the decision to take acting seriously after high school. When I was in my Freshman year at college I took some acting classes and found that I fell in love with it again. I was never challenged when it came to acting as a youngster. I sort of just did whatever was given to me without asking questions. I didn't really understand why I enjoyed it or why I did it.
