Eric Christian Olsen

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Eric Christian Olsen
Olsen in 2013
Born
Eric Christian Olsen

(1977-05-31) May 31, 1977 (age 46)[1]
OccupationActor
Years active1997–present
Spouse
(m. 2012)
Children3
RelativesDaniela Ruah (sister-in-law)

Eric Christian Olsen (born May 31, 1977), is an American actor. He is known for his portrayals of Investigator Marty Deeks on the CBS television series NCIS: Los Angeles, Austin in the film Not Another Teen Movie, and Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd.

Early life

Olsen was born in Eugene, Oregon, the son of Jeanne (née Donstad), a non-denominational chaplain, and Paul V. Olsen, a professor of English, and head track and cross country coach of Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.[2][3] He has an older brother, David, who acts as his stunt double; David is married to actress and Olsen's NCIS: Los Angeles costar Daniela Ruah.[4] Olsen is of Norwegian descent.[5] Olsen spent most of his childhood in Bettendorf, Iowa, and attended Bettendorf Middle and High School, where he pursued interests such as sports, Japanese, and Chinese.[6] In addition to many local theatre performances, Olsen trained in improv with ComedySportz Quad Cities and later joined the cast.

Career

Olsen's first starring role was the title role in the 1999 TV movie Arthur's Quest, soon after he gave an Emmy submitted portrayal of a dying burn victim on NBC's ER. His next role was a small one in HBO's Black Cat Run. He soon landed a starring role in the Fox TV series Get Real, playing Cameron Green. The series lasted for a year before he made his transition onto the big screen when he played Ben Affleck's gunner in Pearl Harbor, that was quickly followed by a leading role as Austin "The Cocky Blond Guy" in the teen send up feature film Not Another Teen Movie.

Olsen next played Jake in the teen comedy The Hot Chick. In 2003, he won the role of Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, the prequel to the hit movie Dumb and Dumber. Olsen followed that up by playing opposite Chris Evans for a second time in Cellular. He starred in the yet to be released Mojave and then joined the final season of Fox's Tru Calling. He claimed three highly contrasting roles in 2006 and 2007 with the release of Beerfest, License to Wed and Zach Braff's The Last Kiss. Olsen co-starred as Sully in the Fox sitcom The Loop. Olsen had four other projects in 2008 and continues to reside in Malibu, California.

In 2009, he appeared in several episodes of the first season of the Community sitcom, as Vaughn, a usually shirtless, neo-hippie student, musician, and athlete.[7] Olsen appeared on Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's streaming video website Funny or Die, with a small series of segments featuring a character called Perry Hilton, a parody of Paris Hilton. He starred in the 2011 science-fiction horror film The Thing.[8]

Olsen portrayed Detective Marty Deeks on the CBS show NCIS: Los Angeles. His character appeared in two episodes of season one before joining the cast as a series regular in the second season.[9] Olsen's sister-in-law, Daniela Ruah, is one of his co-stars.

Olsen is a producer of a short film Bald from 2014 and executive producer of a documentary Andy Irons: Kissed by God from 2018.[10][11] He has his own production company Cloud Nine Productions. In 2019 he started his first show as an executive producer picked up in production for Hulu called Woke.[12]

Olsen made his writing debut with the season 11 episode 10 (the 250th overall episode) of NCIS: Los Angeles titled "Mother", which aired December 1, 2019.[13][14]

Personal life

Olsen became engaged to actress Sarah Wright in October 2011.[15] They were married near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on June 23, 2012.[16] They have a son and two daughters.[17][18][19][20]

Olsen and Wright were featured in a 2015 episode of the HGTV series House Hunters buying a vacation home near Jackson Hole.[21] Olsen works with the charity Hats Off for Cancer as an Honorary Board Member and Spokesperson, featured on their Public Service Announcement video.[22][23] He and his wife Sarah are members of Board of Directors of Environmental Media Awards.[24]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2001 Mean People Suck Nick Short film
2001 Pearl Harbor Gunner
2001 Not Another Teen Movie Austin
2002 Local Boys Randy Dobson
2002 The Hot Chick Jake
2003 Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd Lloyd Christmas
2004 Cellular Chad Thompson
2004 Death Valley Josh
2006 Beerfest Gunther
2006 The Last Kiss Kenny
2007 License to Wed Carlisle Myers
2007 The Comebacks Foreign Exchange Student
2008 Sunshine Cleaning Randy Clever
2008 Eagle Eye Craig Bolston
2009 Fired Up Nick Brady
2009 The Six Wives of Henry Lefay Lloyd Wiggins
2010 The Back-Up Plan Clive Bennett
2011 The Thing Adam Finch
2012 Celeste and Jesse Forever Steve Tucker
2014 Warning Labels Thad Short film
2015 Band of Robbers Sid Sawyer
2016 The Relationtrip Chippy (voice)
2017 Sun Dogs Thad
2017 Battle of the Sexes Lornie Kuhle
2019 The Place of No Words

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction Adam 1 episode: "The Viewing, The Subway, Kid in the Closet, Justice is Served & The Tractor"
1998 Black Cat Run Gas Station Attendant TV Movie – Credited as Eric Olsen
1999 Arthur's Quest Artie / King Arthur TV movie
1999 Turks Kevin Williams Episode: "Friends & Strangers"
1999 ER Travis Mitchell Episode: "Responsible Parties"
1999–2000 Get Real Cameron Green Main cast – 22 episodes
2000 Lessons Learned Jack TV movie
2001 Ruling Class Bill Olszewski TV movie
2001 Smallville Young Harry Bollston Episode: "Hourglass"
2002 24 John Mason Episode: "Day 2: 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m."
2005 Tru Calling Jensen Ritchie 5 episodes (season 2)
2006–2007 The Loop Sully Sullivan Main cast
17 episodes
2007 Not Another High School Show Mason Atkins TV movie
2007 The Hill Matt O'Brien TV movie
2007 Write & Wrong Jason 'Krueger' Langdon TV movie
2008–2009 Brothers & Sisters Kyle DeWitt 6 episodes
2009–2010 Community Vaughn Miller 4 episodes
2010 Neighbors from Hell Wayne (voice) 3 episodes
2010 Lego Hero Factory: Rise of the Rookies William Furno Voice
Television Film
2011 Lego Hero Factory: Savage Planet William Furno Voice
Television Film
2010–2023 NCIS: Los Angeles Marty Deeks Recurring cast; (season 1)
Main cast; (season 2–14)
Writer; (season 11 episode 10 "Mother")
2010–2012 Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil Wade Recurring character
2010–2012 Hero Factory William Furno 7 episodes
2015 House Hunters Himself Appeared in an episode with his wife Sarah and mother Jeanne looking for a vacation home in the Jackson Hole area
2015 Geeks Who Drink Himself Episode: Eric Christian Olsen vs. Scott Porter
2016 Star vs. the Forces of Evil Rock / Whale / Additional Voices 2 episodes
2017 Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television Eric Christian Olsen Season 1, 2 episodes
2018 Robot Chicken Chief Martin Brody / Basil of Baker Street / Logan 5 Episode: "Things Look Bad for the Streepster"

Music videos

Year Title Artist Ref.
2001 "Tainted Love" Marilyn Manson [25]
2008 "Yes We Can" will.i.am and various
2014 "Imagine" (UNICEF: World version) Various [26]

Awards and nominations

Young Artist Awards

Teen Choice Awards

Razzie Awards

Prism Awards by Entertainment Industries Council

References

  1. ^ "'NCIS: Los Angeles' Posts Special Birthday Message for Eric Christian Olsen". quickltech.com. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  2. ^ "Coach Paul V. Olsen – Augustana College". augustana.edu. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
  3. ^ Augustana.edu Archived October 14, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "'NCIS: LA' Stars Eric Christian Olsen and Daniela Ruah on Densi: Could There Be Wedding Bells?".
  5. ^ "Eric Christian Olsen On Set Interview THE THING". Collider. October 8, 2010.
  6. ^ "Ovguide.com". Archived from the original on March 12, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  7. ^ "Eric Christian Olsen on NCIS: LA, Community, and Sexual Chemistry".
  8. ^ Creepy, Uncle (June 15, 2010). "Finally We Know When We Can See The Thing!". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved August 11, 2011.
  9. ^ "NCIS: Los Angeles Promotes Eric Christian Olsen to Series Regular". TV Guide.
  10. ^ "Bald movie". Torresurso.com.
  11. ^ "Andy Irons Kissed by God". Tetongravity.com. August 31, 2018.
  12. ^ "'Woke' Comedy Starring Lamorne Morris Picked Up To Series By Hulu". Deadline.com. August 26, 2019.
  13. ^ "NCIS: Los Angeles 250th episode co-written by Eric Christian Olsen!". Cartermatt.com. November 19, 2019.
  14. ^ "'NCIS: Los Angeles': Eric Christian Olsen Writes His First Script for the Series and Hetty Is in Trouble". Showbiz Cheat Sheet. November 30, 2019. Archived from the original on December 2, 2019. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
  15. ^ "Actor Olsen Is Engaged". ContactMusic. October 25, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
  16. ^ Monica Rizzo (June 25, 2012). "Eric Christian Olsen Marries Sarah Wright". People.com. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  17. ^ Rizzo, Monica (August 26, 2013). "Eric Christian Olsen and Sarah Wright Welcome Son Wyatt Oliver". People. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  18. ^ "Eric Christian Olsen & Sarah Wright Olsen Expecting Baby No. 2". E! Online. March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  19. ^ "Eric Christian and Sarah Wright Olsen Welcome Daughter". People.com. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  20. ^ "Eric Christian Olsen and Sarah Wright Olsen Welcome Daughter Winter Story: 'Newborn Bliss'". PEOPLE.com. September 19, 2020.
  21. ^ "'NCIS: LA' Star Eric Christian Olsen and Wife Sarah Wright Hunt for Homes on HGTV".
  22. ^ "Hats Off For Cancer Board of Directors". Hats Off For Cancer. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  23. ^ "Hats Off For Cancer PSA". YouTube. YouTube. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved August 15, 2016.
  24. ^ "Board of Directors of Environmental Media Awards". Board of Directors. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  25. ^ Rampton, Mike (November 19, 2016). "Video Breakdown: Marilyn Manson – Tainted Love". Louder Sound. Future Publishing. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  26. ^ Rowles, Dustin (November 21, 2014). "'Imagine' Gets the Star-Studded 'We Are The World' Treatment for UNICEF". Pajiba. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  27. ^ "21st Annual Young Artist Awards". Archived from the original on July 19, 2012.
  28. ^ "2003 Teen Choice Awards Nominees". Billboard.com. June 18, 2003.
  29. ^ "24th Annual RAZZIE Awards – 2003". Listography.com.
  30. ^ "EIC Announces Nominations For 18th Annual PRISM Awards". Prweb.com.

External links