Eunice Elizabeth Olsen

Eunice Elizabeth Olsen (born 24 October 1977) is a Singaporean actress, media host, communications and media trainer, media producer, and businesswoman. She is a former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) in Singapore for two terms, a public speaker and an advocate for women's empowerment.

In November 2004, Olsen was appointed as a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) in Singapore by President SR Nathan, making her the youngest nominated NMP at the age of 27 at the time. In 2006, she was given the Singapore Youth Award for her dedication to the community, her youth work and exhibiting an inspirational role model. In 2008, Olsen was awarded the ASEAN Youth Award and was a Young Global Leader representing Singapore at the World Economic Forum. In the 2010 Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore, she was one of the flag bearers for the Singaporean flag. She is currently
Goodwill Ambassador to the Embassy of Sweden

Since winning Miss Singapore Universe, she has hosted TV shows for Mediacorp Singapore including ''Wheel of Fortune'', and ''Rouge''. She has worked on AXN's lifestyle show ''The Duke''. She made her acting debut in ''Red Thread'', Channel 5's long-form English drama, and acted in Chinese drama serials. She also co-produced, researched, and acted in the film ''3.50'' in 2013, the first joint Singapore/Cambodia production, which explores the issue of sex trafficking. In 2019 she presented ''BECOMING SINGAPORE.'' In 2020, Olsen hosted a web documentary series to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China for Mango TV.

In 2013, she founded Eunice Olsen Media (formerly House of Ou Studios) which focuses on social impact storytelling in order to help organizations with sustainability. She is the creator of WomenTalk.com, a programme about extraordinary everyday women. In its debut season, it was nominated for an International Emmy Award (Digital Non-Fiction) and more recently awarded an Official Selection for Best Web Series at the Raindance Film Festival.

Olsen speaks on a range of topics: women's empowerment, leadership, resilience, authentic communication, and various social issues.

Early life and education

Olsen was born in Singapore. She is the only child of Alice Yap and Francis Olsen- a Eurasian Singaporean, her mother is Chinese and her father is of Swedish and Portuguese descent. Olsen speaks English and Mandarin. At the age of three, her parents enrolled her in Yamaha music school. She attended Woodlands Primary School, Singapore, St. Margaret's Secondary School, and Anglo-Chinese Junior College. Olsen completed her degree at the National University of Singapore where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy.

Career

Miss Universe Singapore

In 2000, Olsen was in first place in the Miss Universe Singapore pageant.

Social causes

Her interest in "at-risk" youth began with work at the Toa Payoh Girl's Home and Andrew and Grace Home. In 2002 she became a member of the advisory council for the People's Association's youth movement, T-Net Club (Teens Network Club). In 2001 she became a member of the Kebun Baru Youth Executive Committee. Olsen has worked with the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre and with the Beyond Social Services' BABES programme for pregnant teenagers. She promotes awareness for Cervical Cancer and the Singapore Red Cross. She has also been a goodwill ambassador for World vision, Habitat for Humanity and the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Singapore.

She created the annual All Smiles Day in 2013 as a day of respite for caregivers of the Rare Disorder Society.

Olsen has worked in rural Cambodia, building sanitation facilities for evacuated communities. She co-produced a movie about sex trafficking, titled ''3.50''.

She developed a feminine hygiene programme, Project Precious, to educate women in rural communities. The programme has been adapted for use in Cambodia, India, Nepal, and the United States.

Olsen has served as a goodwill ambassador for the Embassy of Sweden in Singapore.

Media

In 2002 Olsen was selected to be the co-host of Singapore's version of the TV game show Wheel of Fortune. She went on to co-host 3 seasons of ''FRONT'', an Arts Central production that looked at the arts scene in Singapore. In 2007 she was a judge on Channel 5's youth debate programme, The Arena. She hosted ''Rouge in 2008'', a talk show concerning Singaporean women, featuring a mix of celebrity interviews and real-life stories. Olsen made her English acting debut on Channel 5's first long-form English drama ''Red Thread'', and co-hosted a men's magazine lifestyle show on AXN, The Duke.

In August 2013, Olsen founded WomenTalkTV, an online talk show featuring extraordinary women from all over Asia. The show's goal is the social empowerment of Asian women. WomenTalkTV was nominated for an International Emmy Award in the Digital Program: Non-Fiction category in 2014. She hosted Channel NewsAsia's Becoming Singapore, the flagship documentary for the Singapore Bicentennial in 2019. In 2020, Olsen hosted a web documentary series, ''Mundane Glory'', which celebrates the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China for Mango TV.

Olsen has represented, in various capacities, commercial brands such as Omega, Motorola Electronics, Goldheart Jewelry, Redken, Nescafé Gold, Shell Petroleum Fuel Save Ambassador, BlackBerry Messenger, Cosme Decorte AQMW, Physiogel, L'Oréal Lancome Genefique, The Body Shop

Politics

In November 2004, Olsen was appointed as a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) in Singapore. Her main role as an NMP was to highlight issues pertaining to youth and volunteerism. In the course of her term, she touched on issues like access to public transport for the disabled, legislation for child sex tourism, enhancing supervisory guidance for Voluntary Welfare Organisations, and sex education in schools. In the parliamentary debate on Integrated Resorts in 2005, Olsen called for stronger measures to address social problems of compulsive gambling, including mandating a loss limit for casino patrons and requiring the casino operator to provide responsible gambling counselling services. She also called for the captioning of the Channel 5 English news programme. She championed inclusivity people with disabilities. Olsen served two terms and remained an NMP until 2009. She did not apply for a third term in parliament.

Advisory boards

Olsen is an advisor to Space for Humanity, a non-profit organisation headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Olsen is currently a member of the National Museum of Singapore's advisory board and a management committee member of Club HEAL.

Author

Olsen published a children's book ''I'm a girl. See what I can be!'' in 2018, which consists of a series of poems about ten women from the video series, WomenTalk. The book is illustrated by 10 Singaporean artists with autism and designed by HATCH design. It was successfully crowd-funded on Indiegogo.

Speaker and moderator

Olsen has been engaged to speak globally on a wide range of topics from women's empowerment, leadership, resilience, and various social issues. She is a keynote speaker and has spoken at international events such as the Cartier Women's Awards, the United Nations, LH Forum in France, in educational institutions around the World such as Harvard, and universities in India, various parts of Southeast Asia including Vietnam, Philippines, and Singapore.

Olsen had also moderated various forums, and high-profile individuals such as Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the former Prime Minister of Denmark, and panelists from the Swedish Embassy's Disability Forum.

On 6 May 2020, Olsen moderated an online webinar for Médecins Sans Frontières or Doctors Without Borders titled "Live Chat on COVID-19: How MSF Responds to a Pandemic".

On 31 October 2020, Olsen co-hosted the first digital edition of The Purple Parade, which was streamed live on Facebook.

Music

In university, Olsen was part of a band and was president of the Electronic Music Lab at the Centre for the Arts. In 2004, she released an album in South Korea entitled Believe.

Olsen was part of a duo called 7 States. She was joined by music producer and sound designer Rennie Gomes of Yellowbox. Together, they have written a Christmas song, produced a kid's album, and scored a short film for one of Singapore's most acclaimed film directors, Royston Tan, titled Anniversary. 7 States has also written a song titled Light which they dedicated to the athletes of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games in 2010. 7 States recently performed, featuring Humaa Rathor, at the "From Singapore with Love" Benefit concert 2011. This was in support of World vision's earthquake relief work in China, Myanmar and Japan.

Personal life

Olsen discovered through a TV programme, ''My Roots'' that her great-great-grandfather Oskar Pontus Olsson was born in Röra, Orust, Sweden in 1862. He became a sailor on ships that travelled back and forth to England. He eventually settled in Malaya around 1885 and lived in Malaya for 54 years. On 20 November 1928, he was naturalised, as Oscar Olsen, a British citizen in Singapore.

While filming a bicentennial special programme ''Becoming Singapore'', she also learnt that her grandfather from her mother's side, Yap Swee Kang, was an auxiliary fire serviceman volunteer after World War 2.

Olsen is Catholic.

Filmography

Film

Television

Variety Show

Bibliography

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Awards and accolades

* 2000 Miss Singapore Universe
* 2006 Singapore Youth Award
* 2008 ASEAN Youth Award

References

External links

Official websiteEunice Olsen Media
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Olsen, Eunice
1977 births
Anglo-Chinese Junior College alumni
Living people
Miss Universe 2000 contestants
Singaporean beauty pageant winners
Singaporean Nominated Members of Parliament
Singaporean people of Kristang descent
Singaporean people of Chinese descent
Singaporean people of Portuguese descent
Singaporean people of Swedish descent
Singaporean Roman Catholics
Singaporean television actresses
Singaporean television personalities
Singaporean women in politics