Last Updated on September 13, 2024
Elizabeth Olsen is an American actress and producer. She is the younger sister of twins and former teen TV and film stars Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
Olsen got her big break in the independent drama Martha Marcy May Marlene, and she proceeded to gain global recognition for her portrayal of Wanda Maximoff in the Marvel franchise.
She swept critics away with her acting prowess in Facebook’s Sorry for Your Loss, an American web television series, where she also served as an executive producer. After that, she reprised her role as Wanda Maximoff in the popular Disney+ miniseries, WandaVision.
Olsen has won several film awards, including Best Actress in a Leading Role for her role in Martha Marcy May Marlene, and has been nominated for many more. She is set to appear in the new Marvel movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (reprising the role of Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch), which will be released in 2022.
Quick Facts
| Full Name: | Elizabeth Chase Olsen |
| Popular Name: | Elizabeth Olsen |
| Gender: | Female |
| Birth Date: | February 16, 1989 |
| Age: | 34 years |
| Parents: | David Olsen, Jarnette Olsen |
| Siblings: | Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen, Trent Olsen, Courtney Taylor Olsen, Jake Olsen |
| Birth Place: | Sherman Oaks, California |
| Nationality: | American |
| Ethnicity: | American/ Norwegian, English, German, one-eighth Italian, distant French |
| Education: | New York University |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Sexual Orientation: | Straight |
| Wife/Spouse: | Robbie Arnett |
| Children: | N/A |
| Dating: | N/A |
| Net Worth: | $11 Million |
| Source of Wealth: | Acting |
| Height: | 5ft6 (1.68m) |
| Weight: | 56kg (123lbs) |
Early Life and Career Information
Elizabeth Chase Olsen was born and raised in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, to Janette “Jarnie” Olsen, a former dancer, and David “Dave” Olsen, a real estate agent. She is of Norwegian and English ancestry. Her parents divorced in 1996, and her father has since remarried.
She is the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who were formerly famous child stars. She has an older brother, Trent, and two younger half-siblings, Courtney Taylor and Jake, from the father’s remarriage.
Unofficially, her acting career began when she was four years old. Her appearances in Mary-Kate and Ashley’s projects included the 1994 television movie, How the West Was Fun and the straight-to-video series, The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley. Olsen took acting classes, ballet lessons and spent time at musical theatre camps as a child.
She did her early education at Campbell Hall School in Studio City, California. Olsen then attended the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (NYU). She spent a semester at the Moscow Art Theatre School in Russia and took classes at the Atlantic Theater Centre.
The actress had had understudy roles in the 2008 off-Broadway production of the play Dust and the 2009 Broadway production of Impressionism, which helped her secure an agent. She ultimately graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in March 2013.
She made her big-screen debut in the drama-thriller “Martha Marcy May Marlene,” which premiered on January 21, 2011, at the Sundance Film Festival. She played the lead role of Martha, a character suffering from delusions and paranoia after returning to her family from an abusive cult. Olsen, along with the movie, received critical acclaim.
She appeared in Red Lights, and she soon booked a role in Liberal Arts in 2012. She starred opposite Josh Radnor, where she played a young college student who started a romantic relationship with a man 16 years her senior. In the same year, she starred in the horror film Silent Hill.
In 2013, she played Edie Parker, the first wife of novelist Jack Kerouac and the author of the Beat Generation memoir You’ll Be Okay, alongside Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe in the biographical film Kill Your Darlings.
She starred in the American remake of the 2003 Korean film Oldboy, assuming Marie Sebastian, a nurse who helps the protagonist, played by Josh Brolin, find his daughter. She received a BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination for her part. In the same year, she starred as Juliet in an off-Broadway production of the classic Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.
Olsen took the leading role in the erotic thriller, In Secret, a film adaptation of Émile Zola’s 1867 novel Thérèse Raquin. She joined the cast of 2014’s monster blockbuster, Godzilla, where the actress starred opposite Bryan Cranston and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Consequently, Olsen ended 2014 with the independent film, Very Good Girls, where she played a teenage girl in Brooklyn alongside Dakota Fanning.
In 2014, Olsen first became known to the worldwide fanbase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe when she made an uncredited appearance as Wanda Maximoff in Captain America: Winter Soldier. The actress would go on to reprise the role in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame. In 2019, Endgame became the second highest-grossing film of all time, raking in over $2.7 billion at the box office.
Olsen made time for other projects during her appearances in the MCU movies. These include the 2015 Hank Williams biopic, I Saw the Light, where she portrayed Audrey Williams, the wife, manager, and duet partner of singer Hank Williams, played by Tom Hiddleston.
She got a major role in 2017’s Wind River, a neo-Western. The murder mystery was a commercial success and generated $45 million at the box office. Olsen ended 2017 with another starring role as a social media influencer in the well-received dramedy Ingrid Goes West.
In 2018, she moved her attention toward television. She executive produced and starred in Sorry for Your Loss on Facebook Watch. The web series was canceled after two seasons, but critics widely lauded Olsen’s performance.
Olsen starred in her own series called WandaVision on Disney+. The series focused on the character of the Scarlet Witch and tied it in with the Doctor Strange universe.
Elizabeth Olsen’s Net Worth
Her blockbuster movie appearances make it easy to predict that Olsen’s net worth will only soar. The talented actress, as of 2023, boasts a respectable net worth of $11 million.
Lessons from the Life of Elizabeth Olsen
Know your Priorities
“I believe that you are only in control of so much. So whatever you are not in control of you can’t worry about.” ~Elizabeth Olsen
Many aspects of life may challenge you and leave you powerless. Rather than focusing on negativity, it’s better to grasp onto the parts of your life you can influence. Do your part in improving your life.
Don’t be defined by others.
“No is a full sentence.” ~Elizabeth Olsen.
It is often difficult to draw the line and assert yourself; humans desire to please others. However, this behavior can be damaging. Learn to stick up for yourself and refuse to be held back by the shackles of people’s expectations.
