Olivia Harlan Dekker (born April 8, 1993) is an American sportscaster, working as a sideline reporter for

ESPN College Football ''ESPN College Football'' is the branding used for broadcasts of NCAA Division I FBS college football across ESPN properties, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN+, ABC, ESPN Classic, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes, ESPNews and ESPN Radio. ''ESPN College ...

, the

NFL on Westwood One Sports ''The NFL on Westwood One Sports'' is the branding for Cumulus Broadcasting subsidiary Westwood One's radio coverage of the National Football League. These games are distributed throughout the United States and Canada (the latter through TSN Radio ...

, and

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news, analysis programs, ...

basketball.

Early life and education

Harlan grew up in

Mission Hills, Kansas Mission Hills is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 3,594. The east city limits is the Kansas-Missouri state line at State Line ...

. Her father is play-by-play announcer

Kevin Harlan Kevin Harlan (born June 21, 1960) is an American television and radio sports announcer. The son of former Green Bay Packers executive Bob Harlan, he broadcasts NFL and college basketball games on CBS and the NBA for TNT. 2022 will be his 38th con ...

. Her grandfather is former

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

chief executive officer

Bob Harlan Robert "Bob" Ernest Harlan (born September 9, 1936) is the former Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Green Bay Packers, an American professional football team. He is a graduate of Marquette University, where he was the S ...

. She was named

Miss Kansas Teen USA The Miss Kansas Teen USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Kansas in the Miss Teen USA pageant. This pageant has been part of the Vanbros organisation since 1992, and in 2006, they celebrated their ...

in 2010. She graduated from the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

in 2014.

Career

Harlan has covered SEC and ACC football for

FOX Sports South Bally Sports South (BSSO) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports Networks. The network carries regional coverage of professional and collegiate sports events from across ...

and

Raycom Raycom Media, Inc. was an American television broadcasting company based in Montgomery, Alabama. Raycom owned and/or provided services for 65 television stations and two radio stations across 44 markets in 20 states. Raycom, through its Communi ...

. She has co-hosted a daily Green Bay Packers training camp web series and worked as a sideline reporter for preseason games on Packers TV Network. She has been a sideline reporter for

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

games on FOX Sports South. With her father

as play-by-play announcer and Olivia as sideline reporter, the Harlans became the first father-daughter duo to call an

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

game together. She joined ESPN in 2015. She covered

World TeamTennis World TeamTennis (WTT) is a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973. The league's season normally takes place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA take a ...

for

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W 5 ...

in 2019. In 2020, she covered football games for the

. In 2021, she joined BetMGM as host.

Personal life

Harlan has three brothers and sisters. She is married to professional basketball player

Sam Dekker Samuel Thomas Dekker (born May 6, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the London Lions of the British Basketball League (BBL) and the EuroCup. Dekker played college basketball for the Wisconsin Badgers. After finishing colleg ...

. The couple was named 2018 People of the Year by ''

The Sheboygan Press ''The Sheboygan Press'' is a daily newspaper based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, United States. It is one of a number of newspapers in the state of Wisconsin owned by Gannett, including the ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'', ''Green Bay Press-Gazette'' ...

''. She serves on the board of directors for the Children's Cancer Family Foundation.

References

External links

Olivia Harlan profile
at ESPN Media Zone * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harlan, Olivia 1993 births Living people ESPN people American sports journalists Green Bay Packers announcers University of Georgia alumni Women sports commentators National Football League announcers College football announcers National Basketball Association broadcasters