Elizabeth Olsen

Elizabeth Chase Olsen is an American actress born on February 16, 1989, in Los Angeles, California. She is best known for her roles in independent dramas as well as major feature films, most notably portraying Wanda Maximoff, also known as Scarlet Witch, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Over the course of her career, she has received nominations for a BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Raised in Sherman Oaks, Olsen is the daughter of Jarnie, a former dancer and personal manager, and Dave, a real estate agent. She is the younger sister of twin fashion designers and former child actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and she also has an older brother alongside two half-siblings. Olsen began acting at four years old in her sisters' projects and took ballet and acting classes throughout her childhood. She attended Campbell Hall School and later studied drama at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, the Atlantic Theater Company, and the Moscow Art Theatre School in Russia, graduating in 2013.

Olsen made her feature debut in the 2011 thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene, earning widespread critical acclaim and nominations for an Independent Spirit Award and a Critics' Choice Movie Award. She followed this breakthrough with roles in Silent House, Red Lights, Liberal Arts, Kill Your Darlings, Oldboy, and an off-Broadway production of Romeo and Juliet. In 2013, she was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award, and in 2014, she starred in the high-grossing monster film Godzilla.

Global recognition arrived when Olsen joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Wanda Maximoff, debuting in a post-credits scene in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) before co-starring in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). She reprised her superhero role in Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Alongside her franchise work, she portrayed Audrey Williams in the biopic I Saw the Light (2015), a novice FBI agent in Wind River (2017), a social media influencer in Ingrid Goes West (2017), and a caregiver in Kodachrome (2018).

On television, Olsen executive produced and starred as a young widow in the drama series Sorry for Your Loss (2018–2019), securing a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination. She headlined the 2021 Disney+ miniseries WandaVision, which earned her nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. She later played Maximoff in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) and voiced the character in Marvel Zombies (2025). In 2023, she starred as Candy Montgomery in the HBO miniseries Love & Death, garnering another Golden Globe nomination.

Olsen's additional screen credits include the drama film His Three Daughters (2023), the science fiction thriller The Assessment, and the romantic comedy Eternity (2025). Her upcoming projects include the thriller Panic Carefully, set for 2027, as well as the drama series Seven Sisters, the dark comedy Love Child, and the limited series Once There Were Wolves.

Beyond acting, Olsen has co-written the children's books Hattie Harmony: Worry Detective (2022) and Hattie Harmony: Opening Night (2023) with her husband, musician Robbie Arnett. The couple eloped in 2019, reside in Los Angeles, and welcomed their first child in 2026.