Biography

Born June 13, 1986, in Sherman Oaks, CA, Ashley Olsen is one-half of the multimillion-dollar franchise known as The Olsen Twins. Long before the identical pair had unwittingly indoctrinated themselves into the hearts and minds of adoring pre-pubescent girls (and vaguely creepy fraternity boys), however, Ashley and her sister, Mary-Kate Olsen, were simply the youngest members of the long-running sitcom Full House, which hired them just a year after their birth. Because of U.S. child-labor laws, the girls took turns playing Full House's resident cute baby girl, Michelle Tanner. Before long, Ashley and Mary-Kate had their own catchphrase ("You got it, dude"), which reverberated in the ears of Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) and throughout American audiences loudly enough to merit a TVQ rating -- the sitcom world's most prominent popularity contest -- second only to Bill Cosby.

Ashley Olsen continued her part-time role as Michelle until Full House came to a close in 1995, though she took time out to film several family-oriented straight-to-video releases, including To Grandmother's House We Go (1992), Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993), and How the West Was Fun (1994). Luckily for Olsen, the demise of Full House hardly marked the end of her career. Along with her sister, Ashley's success in the family-oriented video market planted the seeds for what would eventually become a multimillion-dollar empire with enough punch to land the twins the 83rd spot in Forbes magazine's list of the world's 100 most powerful celebrities in 2003.

1995 marked Ashley's big-screen debut as the wealthy, worldly twin-sister in It Takes Two, a thinly veiled send-up of The Parent Trap opposite Kirstie Alley and Steve Guttenberg. Olsen also participated in the short-lived 1998 television series Two of a Kind, which, like Full House, followed a widower's efforts to raise his children. This time, however, Ashley and Mary-Kate's identical status served as a gimmick rather than an irksome legal necessity. (The producers of Full House had insisted on crediting the twins as "Mary Kate Ashley Olsen" in an effort to hide their sisterhood.)

By the early 2000s, Ashley had established herself as part of a verifiable marketing gold mine and, oddly enough, the not-quite-legal forbidden fruit of American pop culture. In addition to a juvenile book series, magazine, scads of videos and DVDs, countless talk show appearances, The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley TV series, a clothing line, perfume, and an estimated combined net worth of more than 300-million dollars, the girls also attracted the unwanted attention of hundreds of decidedly less-wholesome Internet sites counting the days until their 18th birthday. The girls deemed this attention, as well as their number 61 ranking in For Him Magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" in 2003 as, simply, "gross." After a bit part in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle that same year, Ashley both co-produced and starred in New York Minute (2004), which follows -- what else? -- a set of identical twins whose attempt at a day in Manhattan lands them in the midst of a high-profile political scandal. In addition to having become a self-made millionaire by the time she was ten, Ashley Olsen enjoys golf, tennis, dancing, Tea Boa, and spending time with her sister. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide.

Filmography

New York Minute (2004/I) .... Jane Ryan
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) (uncredited) .... Future Angel
The Challenge (2003) (TV) .... Lizzie Dalton
When In Rome (2002/I) (V) .... Leila
Getting There (2002) (V) .... Taylor Hunter
Holiday in the Sun (2001) (V) .... Alex Stewart
"Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action!" (2001) TV Series (voice) .... Ashley/Special Agent Amber
"So Little Time" (2001) TV Series .... Chloe Carlson
Winning London (2001) (V) .... Riley Lawrence
The Amazing Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley (2000) (V)
Our Lips Are Sealed (2000) .... Ashley Parker/Abby Turtleby/Andrea Frauenfelder
You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's Greatest Parties (2000) (V)
You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's School Dance (2000) (V)
Switching Goals (1999) (TV) .... Emma Stanton
Passport to Paris (1999) (V) .... Allyson 'Ally' Porter
You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's Fashion Party (1999) (V)
Billboard Dad (1998) .... Emily Tyler
"Two of a Kind" (1998) TV Series .... Ashley Burke
You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's Camping Party (1998) (V)
You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's Costume Party (1998) (V)
The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Volcano Mystery (1997) (V) .... Ashley
You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's Birthday Party (1997) (V)
You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's Christmas Party (1997) (V)
You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's Mall of America Party (1997) (V)
You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's New York Ballet Party (1997) (V)
The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Hotel Who-Done-It (1996) (V) .... Ashley
The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Shark Encounter (1996) (V) .... Ashley
The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the U.S. Space Camp Mission (1996) (V) .... Ashley
It Takes Two (1995) .... Alyssa Callaway/Amanda Lemmon
The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Christmas Caper (1995) (V) .... Ashley
The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Fun House Mystery (1995) (V) .... Ashley
The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Mystery Cruise (1995) (V) .... Ashley
The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Sea World Adventure (1995) (V) .... Ashley
You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's Sleepover Party (1995) (V) .... Ashley
How the West Was Fun (1994) (TV) .... Jessica Martin
The Little Rascals (1994) .... Twin #1
The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of the Logical i Ranch (1994) (V) .... Ashley
The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley: The Case of Thorn Mansion (1994) (V) .... Ashley
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993) (TV) .... Lynn Farmer/Young Aunt Agatha
To Grandmother's House We Go (1992) (TV) .... Julie Thompson
ABC TGIF (1990) (TV) .... Michelle
"Full House" (1987/I) TV Series .... Michelle Elizabeth Tanner (1987-1995)