Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen were both born on June 13, 1986 in Sherman Oaks in California to proud parents Jarnette “Jarnie” Fuller and David Olsen. Mary-Kate and Ashley have an older brother, Trent, and younger sister, Elizabeth, as well as two half-siblings, Taylor and Jake. The twins’ parents divorced in 1995. Taylor and Jake are the children from their father’s second marriage to Martha Mackenzie-Olsen.
Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen started early in their acting careers when they were part of the hit TV sitcom Full House playing the twin daughters of Danny Ernest Tanner (played by Bob Saget). The show first aired on September 1987 and the twins were hired to be part of the cast at the age of six months and began filming when they were just nine months old. The show was a popular hit from the late 80’s towards the early 90’s. The sisters played the same role as Michelle Tanner as they took turns in taping for their scenes in order to comply with the strict rules regarding child labor laws for child actors. Mary-Kate had more screen time during its first season since Ashley would be crying when she was brought to the set and do her scenes. Since the producers wouldn’t want to let the viewers know that the character role of Michelle Tanner was being played by twins, the sisters were originally credited as “Mary Kate Ashley Olsen” but during its last season on air and most of the first season, they were credited as two different individuals. In addition to their stint with Full House, the twins also did several straight-to-video movies like To Grandmother’s House We Go back in 1992.
When Full House ended airing on television, the Olsen twins began merchandising their image and it was in 1993 that they put up a company named Dualstar and their brand has been sold and distributed in more than 3,000 stores in the United States and in over 5,000 stores worldwide. Because of their newfound business venture, the twins were included in Forbes magazine “The Celebrity 100 List” since 2002 and it was in 2007 that Forbes ranked them as the eleventh richest women in the entertainment industry with a net worth of over $100 million. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were the biggest craze in the preteen market in the late 90’s towards early 2000 and their names were so synonymous to fashion, books, fragrances, magazine and a lot more that every product released in the market was a huge hit. Even toymaker company Mattel came up with their Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen fashion dolls that was sold in the market from 2000 to 2005.
The twins starred in their own video series The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley and You’re Invited to Mary-Kate and Ashley’s… They even had a show for ABC called Two of a Kind and ABC Family’s So Little Time. The latter show was heavily panned by critics and it disappointed a majority of the fans. But despite the setback, the twins were ranked number three on the VH1 program 100 Greatest Child Stars. Mary-Kate and Ashley appeared in their most recent theatrical endeavour in the light-hearted romantic comedy New York Minute which also starred Eugene Levy. The movie was some sort of a launch pad for the girls to get into more serious and mature roles but the film was an absolute box office disappointment.
Mary-Kate made her first solo endeavour without her twin sister Ashley when she appeared in the movie Factory Girl which was released in December of 2006, Mary-Kate was originally seen in several of the movie scenes but she only got to appear in the background in the film’s final cut. She also did recurring guestings for the third season of the Showtime series Weeds. In 2008 she starred in an independent film with actor Ben Kingsley entitled The Wackness with whom Mary-Kate shares a passionate kissing scene with Kingsley. Her sister Ashley is now doing a movie alone where she gets to star opposite Billy Bob Thornton in The Informers due to be released sometime in 2008.
The sisters dabbled into fashion and were very peculiar about their own fashion sense as New York Times declared Mary-Kate a fashion icon for pioneering her signature “homeless” look that is being mimicked by other celebrities and fans alike. The twins also has a clothes line in Wal-Mart stores all across the United States catering to young girls ages 4 to 14 as well as a beauty line called “Mary-Kate and Ashley: Real fashion for real girls”. They are currently working on their new fashion line called The Row patterned after the famous Savile Row of London. The Olsen twins were criticized by PETA, an animal rights organization, for using animal fur for their fashion line.
Mary-Kate and Ashley announced in 2004 that they would be pursuing college at the New York University after finishing high school. In 2005, Mary-Kate moved back to California and she decided to stay on the West Coast and pursue more solo work with their company, Dualstar while Ashley remained in New York and is still in close contact with her twin sister.In 2004, Mary-Kate checked into a rehab facility in Utah for six weeks and had to be treated from the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. It was also rumored that there was also a drug problem, but the Olsens’ publicist said, “Mary-Kate was not admitted for drugs. Period.” Mary-Kate put on about five to seven pounds immediately after her stint in rehab and pictures had shown that she may have gained more weight.
In 2005, Mary-Kate ended her romance with Greek shipping heir Stavros Niarchos III. Niarchos then began dating hotel heiress and socialite Paris Hilton. Mary-Kate said that the breakup was one of the main factors in her leave of absence from New York University. The breakup and Niarchos’ relationship with Paris Hilton left an indelible gap between Hilton and Mary-Kate.
In 2006, Ashley filed a $40 million lawsuit against the National Enquirer for printing a headline reading “Ashley Olsen Caught In Drug Scandal,” which was accompanied by an unflattering photo of Ashley with her eyes half-closed. Ashley completely denies the accusations and said that she was neither into drugs nor selling, in any way, illegal drugs. The suit consisted of $20 million in libel damages and $20 million in false light invasion of privacy damages.
In 2008, Mary-Kate Olsen was caught up in the media-hype surrounding the death of Heath Ledger after masseuse Diane Lee Wolozin, who had gone to the flat to give the actor a 3pm massage and found a naked Ledger in his bed, rang Olsen twice before calling 911. There is also speculation that Olsen was having a relationship with Ledger at the time of his death.