Ashley Olsen

Birth and family

Ashley was born in Sherman Oaks, California, the daughter of Jarnette (née Jones), a personal manager, and David Olsen, a real estate developer and mortgage banker. Along with her twin, Mary-Kate, they have an older brother, Trent Olsen, a younger sister, Elizabeth Olsen who is also an actress, and younger half siblings, Taylor and Jake, from their father's second marriage. Olsen's parents divorced in 1996. The twins and their siblings have Norwegian ancestry while their mother is of French, German and Italian ancestry.

Career

Olsen began her career at the age of nine months old when she and Mary-Kate were hired to share the role of Michelle Tanner on the popular television series Full House in 1987. Later on in the series, they were both seen together revealing that they were in fact twins. Following the end of Full House, Olsen released a string of successful straight-to-video movies and became a popular figure in the preteen market during the late 1990s and early 2000s. She became a household name, with her likeness seen in clothes, books, fragrances, magazines, movies, and posters, among others. There were fashion dolls of her made by Mattel from 2000 to 2005. She starred in the video series The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley, the ABC show Two of a Kind, and ABC Family's So Little Time. She and her sister were jointly ranked number three on the VH1 program 100 Greatest Child Stars. In 2004, the twins appeared in the theatrical light-hearted romantic comedy, New York Minute. In 2007, when Mary-Kate and Ashley were 21, they said that if they got involved in movies together again it would be as producers. When asked about acting again in 2009 Ashley said, "Never say never." In 2009, Olsen contemplated returning to acting. She changed her mind, and in 2012, the sisters decided to quit acting permanently and focus on fashion. In October 2013, Olsen appeared in the music video for "City of Angels" by Thirty Seconds to Mars.

Nickelodeon acquired the rights to Mary-Kate and Ashley's video library in 2015.

In 2015, it was announced that John Stamos had signed on with Netflix to produce and co-star in Fuller House, a spin-off Full House that would reunite the original cast members. Mary-Kate and Ashley originally announced in May that they would not reprise their role as Michelle Tanner, however, in July, according to Netflix's Ted Sarandos, the Olsen twins were "teetering" on an agreement to join the series. The twins eventually declined to join the cast of Fuller House, with Ashley saying she would not feel comfortable in front of the camera after a 12-year absence from acting and Mary-Kate saying the timing was bad.

Dualstar

In 2004, both Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen became co-presidents of their company Dualstar (created in 1993 following the success of Full House), the brand currently selling in over 3,000 stores in America and 5,300 stores worldwide.

Net worth and influence

Ashley and her twin Mary-Kate's success has been marked by their inclusion on every Forbes The Celebrity 100 list since 2002. In 2007, Forbes ranked the twins as the eleventh-richest women in entertainment, with an estimated combined net worth of $300 million. Forbes had the twins on their 30 Under 30: All-Star Alumni list in 2017.

Fashion

Following a high volume of public interest in their fashion choices, both worked in collaboration on a string of fashion lines available to the public. They started a clothing line in Walmart 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.

The idea for The Row started as a personal project in 2005 when Ashley Olsen challenged herself to create a perfect T-shirt. She tested the design on a variety of women of all body shapes and ages in an attempt to find a "commonality in fit and attitude."

By 2006, the sisters had created a 7-piece collection that included the T-shirt, a pair of cotton sateen leggings, and a cashmere wool tank dress. Barneys New York bought the entire first collection. The brand has expanded to include ready-to-wear, resort, handbags, sunglasses, and shoes.

In 2006, they were tapped as the faces of the upscale fashion line Badgley Mischka. As adults, the Olsens have devoted much of their attention to the world of fashion. They head a couture fashion label, The Row, as well as the Elizabeth and James, Olsenboye, and StyleMint retail collections. Ashley Olsen has appeared on best-dressed lists. The Olsens designed an Olsenboye Change Purse in 2011 and donated the money to "Pennies From Heaven".

In 2011, the Olsen sisters 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 the Italian brand Superga. The Olsens released an Elizabeth and James perfume in early 2013. StyleMint is now available in the UK.

In October 2012, Ashley and Mary-Kate won the WSJ magazine Innovator of The Year Award.

Ashley and Mary-Kate are members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, CFDA a not-for-profit trade association of over 450 prominent American fashion and accessory designers.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards

Womenswear Designer of the Year for The Row - 2012
Accessories Designer of the Year for The Row - 2014
Womenswear Designer of the Year for The Row - 2015

Book

In 2008, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen wrote Influence, a book featuring interviews with fashion designers that have inspired the Olsens' fashion lines.

Personal life

In 2005, Olsen filed a $40 million lawsuit against tabloid magazine National Enquirer for depicting her as being involved in a drug scandal. Her case was dismissed by a federal court in Los Angeles in November of the same year.