Mary-Kate Olsen

Mary-Kate Olsen (born June 13, 1986) is an American actress, fashion designer, producer, author, and businesswoman. She co-founded luxury fashion brands The Row, Elizabeth and James, and the more affordable lines Olsenboye and StyleMint alongside her fraternal twin sister Ashley Olsen. Olsen pursued acting independently as an adult until 2012. --- Olsen was born in Sherman Oaks, California to David "Dave" Olsen and Jarnette "Jarnie" Fuller. Along with her twin, Ashley, Olsen has an older brother, Trent; a younger sister, Elizabeth, who is also an actress; and two younger half-siblings, Taylor (sister) and Jake (brother), from her father's second marriage to McKenzie. Olsen's parents divorced in 1995. In 2004, Olsen graduated from Campbell Hall School and began attending New York University with Ashley. Both of them withdrew from NYU the following year, a few months apart, and returned to California. Along with Ashley, Olsen was cast at the age of nine months to share the role of Michelle Tanner on the ABC sitcom Full House. The Olsen twins portrayed Michelle throughout the series' 1987–1995 run. In the early 1990s, Olsen and her twin sister established a company, Dualstar, which produced a long string of TV movies and direct-to-video releases featuring the girls. The Olsens continued to release direct-to-video films up to the early 2000s, along with starring in the 1995 feature film It Takes Two. In 1997, the Olsen twins guest starred in an episode of Sister, Sister, alongside Tia Mowry and Tamera Mowry. After Full House, the sisters starred in two other sitcoms (Two of a Kind and So Little Time) and an animated series (Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action!), each of which lasted only one season while So Little Time ran for two seasons. These ventures, combined with an array of licensing deals for their names and likenesses, made Olsen wealthy at a young age. In 2004, Olsen's wealth was estimated at $137 million. Olsen and her sister became co-presidents of Dualstar upon their eighteenth birthday. Olsen's first solo acting appearance was in the movie Factory Girl, released in December 2006. Olsen's one short scene was ultimately cut from theatrical release, but was included on the film's DVD. In 2007, Olsen and her twin sister said that if they became involved in movies together again it would be as producers. Olsen had a recurring role on Weeds as Tara Lindman. She appears in the 2008 film The Wackness as Union. At the Sundance Film Festival, co-star and Academy Award–winner Sir Ben Kingsley praised her. --- In 2005, Olsen ended her romance with Greek shipping heir Stavros Niarchos III . "I miss him and I adore him," Olsen said. "It's a hurtful and a painful subject." Olsen dated Maxwell Snow, the younger brother of the late New York-based artist Dash Snow, from September 2006 until the summer of 2007. In 2008 Olsen started dating artist Nate Lowman. The two split up in February 2010. In May 2012, it was revealed that Olsen was dating Olivier Sarkozy, half brother of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.  Mary-Kate was a close friend of late actor Heath Ledger. After discovering Ledger unconscious in his bed in January 2008, his masseuse called Olsen twice before contacting police. Olsen sent a private security guard to the scene.