Olivia Rose Olson (born May 21, 1992) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and writer, largely known for her voice roles as Vanessa Doofenshmirtz in ''

Phineas and Ferb ''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated musical-comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the series was originally broadcast as a ...

'' and

Marceline the Vampire Queen Marceline the Vampire Queen is a fictional character in the American animated Cartoon Network television series ''Adventure Time'', created by Pendleton Ward. She is voiced by Olivia Olson in most appearances, by Ava Acres as a child, and b ...

in ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

''. She also played the character of Joanna in the 2003 film ''

Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. It features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous film and television proje ...

'' and its 2017 short sequel ''

Red Nose Day Actually ''Red Nose Day Actually'' is a 2017 British romantic comedy television short promotional film, following a dozen of the characters from, and acting as a sequel to, the 2003 feature film ''Love Actually'' as part of the fundraising event Red Nos ...

''. Along with this, she is also a writer, having written the

Boom! Studios Boom! Studios (styled BOOM! Studios) is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Origins In the early 2000s, Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby had been working in Holly ...

graphic novel ''Marcy and Simon'', co-authored ''Adventure Time: The Enchiridion and Marcy's Super-Secret Scrapbook,'' and contributed writing to the best-seller ''Adventure Time Encyclopedia' for

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

Early life

Olson was adopted at birth and raised in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. She lives with her father,

Martin Olson Martin Olson (born April 2, 1956) is an American comedy writer, television producer, author and composer. He is known for his unusual subject matter, and is an original member of the Boston Comedy Scene. He is the father of actress Olivia Olson ...

, mother Kay Olson, and brother Casey Olson. Olson graduated from

Agoura High School Agoura High School is a public high school in Agoura Hills, California, United States. It is the largest high school in the Las Virgenes Unified School District. Athletics and activities Agoura High School's athletic teams are nicknamed the Char ...

in 2010. She is of

Afro-Jamaican Afro-Jamaicans are Jamaicans of predominant Sub-Saharan African descent. They represent the largest ethnic group in the country. Most Jamaicans of mixed-race descent self-report as just Jamaican. The ethnogenesis of the Black Jamaican people st ...

descent through her biological father.

Career

Olson has appeared as a singer and actress on television shows and in live theatre, including Comedy Central Stage, the HBO Theater, and The Fake Gallery.

2003: ''Love Actually''

Olson moved into the mainstream with her role as Joanna Anderson in the 2003 holiday film ''

'', singing the song " All I Want for Christmas Is You". Her singing was praised, with director

Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them '' ...

stating in the commentary in the music section of the ''Love Actually''

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

that Olson's singing was so perfect, they were afraid the audience would not believe that a ten-year-old could really sing the way she did and would assume she was lip-synching. They had to train her so her singing would sound more believable, and add the sounds of inhalations to the track. This led to guest spots on ''

The Ellen Show ''The Ellen Show'' is an American television sitcom created by and starring Ellen DeGeneres that was broadcast during the 2001–02 season on CBS, aired from September 24, 2001, to January 11, 2002. It was DeGeneres' second attempt at a sitcom, ...

'', ''

The Tracy Morgan Show ''The Tracy Morgan Show'' is an American television sitcom created by David M. Israel and Jim O'Doherty, that aired on NBC from December 2, 2003 to March 20, 2004. The series stars Tracy Morgan and Tamala Jones. The show was canceled in its f ...

'' and singing with stars

Jack Black Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), ''Shallow Hal'' (2001), ''Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ''E ...

and

Kristin Chenoweth Kristin Dawn Chenoweth (; born Kristi Dawn Chenoweth; July 24, 1968)Kristin Cheno ...

. Olson also posted original songs on her

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

account. In 2017, Olson reprised her role as Joanna in ''

'', a short film which is a sequel to ''Love Actually''.

2008–2017: ''Phineas and Ferb'', and ''Beauty Is Chaos''

From 2008 to 2015, Olson voiced the recurring character Vanessa Doofenshmirtz in the Disney animated series ''

'' along with actor

Thomas Sangster Thomas Brodie-Sangster (born 16 May 1990), also credited as Thomas Sangster, is an English actor. He is known for playing Sam in ''Love Actually'' (2003), Simon in ''Nanny McPhee'' (2005), Ferb in ''Phineas and Ferb'' (2007–2015), Jojen Reed ...

(

Ferb Fletcher Ferbs "Ferb" Fletcher is one of the two main protagonists in the animated television series ''Phineas and Ferb''. He is voiced by British actor Thomas Sangster on ''Phineas and Ferb'' and American actor David Errigo Jr. on ''Milo Murphy's Law'' ...

), who played Joanna's love interest Sam in ''Love Actually''. Olson said that she and Sangster talked "about the whole Ferb-Vanessa situation ’cause it’s pretty funny." In ''Phineas and Ferb'', she sings a number of songs, including the duet "Busted!" with

Ashley Tisdale Ashley Michelle Tisdale (born July 2, 1985) is an American actress and singer. During her childhood, she was featured in over 100 advertisements and had minor roles in television and theatre. She achieved mainstream success as Maddie Fitzpatr ...

as well as popular solo songs, including "I'm Me", "Not So Bad a Dad", "I'm Lindana and I Wanna Have Fun", "Happy New Year" and many others, including her song in the ''

Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation" is a special Christmas special, Christmas-themed episode of the animated television series ''Phineas and Ferb.'' The episode was originally broadcast on Disney XD on December 6, 2009. The special's narrative, s ...

'' special "Got That Christmas Feeling". She has written songs for ''Phineas and Ferb'' and has written and recorded her own songs with renowned music producers

Rick Nowels Richard Wright Nowels Jr. is an American songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and arranger. He has co-written and co-produced over 90 hit singles with multiple artists In 2011, Olson voiced Vanessa in a deleted scene of '' Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension'', which included a musical number, but sang a song for the film "I Walk Away". Her role as Vanessa led to her role as

in ''

''. During the show's production, the show creator,

Pendleton Ward Ward Taylor Pendleton Johnston (born September 23, 1982), known professionally as Pendleton Ward or simply Pen Ward, is an American animator, screenwriter, producer, director, and voice actor who has worked for Cartoon Network Studios, Freder ...

, contacted Olson's father, Martin Olson, then writing for ''Phineas and Ferb'', asking if he knew who played Vanessa in the show. He was not aware, at the time, that Martin was Olson's father. She would also voice Marceline in the 2012 video game, '' Adventure Time: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!!''.

2013-2018: ''Steven Universe'', ''Adventure Time'' and ''Phineas and Ferb''

In 2010, Olson got the role of

on the animated

series ''

''. Olson said she was impressed by her character's fashion design and the costuming for Marceline, saying she occasionally admired the unique designs for the character in episodes. During the audition for the role, Olson first read for Princess Bubblegum, but later read for Marceline. Reportedly when getting into character for the role she often dressed similar to Marceline when she recorded her lines In the show, her father played Hunson Abadeer, the father of Marceline. In the series, Olson also sings Marceline's songs, which were written by storyboard artists, or other people affiliated with production. As such, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' praised Marceline as a character, noting in particular that "she's ... responsible for some of the show's best songs." The series was a commercial and popular success and her character attracted positive critical attention from critics, and fans alike, along with the production crew of ''Adventure Time''. This popularity was even recognized by the company that owns ''Adventure Time'' with the official press release for the ''Adventure Time: Marceline and the Scream Queens'' companion comic book referring to Marceline as a "fan-favorite". Olson later said she was "honored" to be voicing a character in a show pushing the limits, including on "what a female character in a TV series brings to the table." In the ''Adventure Time'' mini-series " Stakes", Olson performs the popular song "Everything Stays", which was revealed by Olson and

Rebecca Sugar Rebecca Rea Sugar (born July 9, 1987) is an American animator and screenwriter. She is best known for being the creator of the Cartoon Network series ''Steven Universe'', making her the first non-binary person to independently create a series for ...

at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. In 2015 Olivia and her father, Martin Olson, co-authored a book adapted from the series

, ''Adventure Time: The Enchiridion & Marcy's Super Secret Scrapbook''. Olivia wrote her section in first person as her character Marceline. The book was illustrated by artists including Mahendra Singh,

Tony Millionaire Tony Millionaire (born Scott Richardson in 1956) is an American cartoonist, illustrator and author known for his syndicated comic strip ''Maakies'' and the ''Sock Monkey'' series of comics and picture books. He lives in Yarmouth, Maine at Pleas ...

, Renee French, Celeste Moreno and Sean Tejaratchi. Olson also performed the song "Haven't You Noticed (I'm a Star)", which was featured on the September 17, 2015 episode of ''

Steven Universe ''Steven Universe'' is an American animated series, animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe (character), Steven Universe (Zach Callison), who li ...

'' entitled "Sadie's Song". It was later featured in the ''Steven Universe'' mini-episode "Gem Karaoke", released on October 3, 2016. She appears at Comic-Cons and pop conventions around the world as do other Adventure Time cast members. Olson frequently posts original music on her

and

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

account. On July 18, 2013, Olson released her debut EP '' Beauty Is Chaos''. By December 2015, she had over 19,000 followers on her YouTube channel. From 2016 to 2019, Olivia voiced the fourth Powerpuff Girl

Bliss BLISS is a system programming language developed at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) by W. A. Wulf, D. B. Russell, and A. N. Habermann around 1970. It was perhaps the best known system language until C debuted a few years later. Since then, C b ...

on Cartoon Network's reboot of ''

The Powerpuff Girls ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Televi ...

'', The character's initial announcement was met with negative reactions from some fans, but when rumors began to spread that the character would be black, many fans began to express a more optimistic tone. Reviewers later called the character a great step forward in terms of racial diversity and a good addition. In all, reactions to the character were mainly positive, while others argued she was a stereotype and that the inclusion of the character seemed like

tokenism Tokenism is the practice of making only a perfunctory or symbolic effort to be inclusive to members of minority groups, especially by recruiting people from underrepresented groups in order to give the appearance of racial or gender equality wit ...

. In 2019, Olson voiced Jun, PizzaRave, and another character in '' Fast & Furious: Spy Racers''. In 2020, she voiced Vanessa Doofenshmirtz in the ''Phineas and Ferb'' film, '' Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe'', and Marceline in the "Obsidian" episode of '' Adventure Time: Distant Lands''. In the film, Olson sang the song "The Universe Is Against Me" with Ashley Tisdale, who voiced Candace, and

Laura Dickinson Laura Elsie Dickinson (born September 23, 1979) is an American musician and actress from California who is a vocalist for featured songs on the Disney Channel's programs ''Phineas and Ferb'', ''Sofia the First'', and ''Jake and the Never Land P ...

while in "Obsidian", she sang "Woke Up" and "Monster" with other performers.

2018–present: ''Nowhere Land'' and ''The X Factor''

Olson's latest album ''Nowhere Land'' was released on June 22, 2018. She worked with

K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...

producers Kairos Music Group and producer/singer/songwriter John Defeo on the project. In October 2019, she began competing in '' The X Factor: Celebrity'', being the second act to be evicted from the live shows on October 26, 2019.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Soundtrack appearances

* ''

'' (2003) * ''

'' (2009) * '' Phineas and Ferb Holiday Favorites'' (2010) * '' Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension'' (2011) * '' Phineas and Ferb: Across the 1st and 2nd Dimensions'' (2011) * '' Phineas and Ferb: Summer Belongs to You'' (2012) * ''Phineas and Ferb-ulous: The Ultimate Album'' (2013) * ''Phineas and Ferb: Rockin' and Rollin'' (2013) * ''

The Music of Ooo ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn (Jeremy Shada) a ...

'' (2016) * ''Marceline the Vampire Queen – Rock the Nightosphere'' (2015) * '' Steven Universe, Vol. 1 (Original Soundtrack)'' (2017) * ''Adventure Time – Come Along with Me (Original Soundtrack)'' (2018) * ''Adventure Time, Vol. 1 (Original Soundtrack)'' (2019) * ''Adventure Time, Vol. 2 (Original Soundtrack)'' (2019) * ''Adventure Time, Vol. 3 (Original Soundtrack)'' (2019) * ''Adventure Time – The Complete Series Soundtrack'' (2019) * '' Adventure Time: Distant Lands - Obsidian (Original Soundtrack)'' (2020)

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* *
Olivia Olson - Video Excerpts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olson, Olivia 1992 births Living people American film actresses American voice actresses Actresses from Los Angeles American women pop singers American women singer-songwriters American child singers American child actresses American adoptees 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American women singers