Elizabeth Olsen is probably best known for kicking bad guy butt in the Avengers movies (and more recently in the spinoff series WandaVision), but back in the day, she was better known as the younger sister of some very famous twins. In case her name or the fact that she looks exactly like them didn’t tip you off, Elizabeth is the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. But as it turns out, she actually has a few other siblings, too.
There’s her older brother, as well as a younger half-sister and half-brother from her dad’s second marriage, giving you a total of six Olsen children, which, TBH seems like a crazy number. Like, how did they not end up with a Keeping Up-esque show of their own? I think I can safely say that we would all be tuning in to get some BTS secrets on being a freaking Marvel superhero, or a sneak peak at Mary-Kate and Ashley’s ~creative process~, right??
But with those über-talented genes running in the family, you just know that even the lesser-known Olsens are all leading their own very successful lives. So if you’ve ever wanted to find out more about all of Elizabeth’s siblings, here’s everything you need to know about each one of them.
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James Trent Olsen
The oldest Olsen sibling has managed to stay out of the spotlight himself for the most part, although he did have a few cameos in his younger sisters’ You’re Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley’s Sleepover Party and The Case of the Mystery Cruise where he played himself. But TBH, he was kind of a brilliant entrepreneur from a very young age and would sell his famous twin sisters’ autographs to other kids at school. You gotta respect the hustle!
He goes by his middle name Trent, but it was his first name, James, (along with Elizabeth’s, duh) that inspired the name of Mary-Kate and Ashley’s fragrance line: Elizabeth and James.
The now 38-year-old Olsen is a graduate of New York Film Academy where he studied screenwriting and acting, and he now works in movie production, so he’s not totally out of the industry. He’s also a successful comic book writer for Storm King Comics.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
If you’re not already familiar with Mary-Kate and Ashley and their endless empire, then I’m sorry but what color is the rock you’ve been living under? The twins kinda set the child star precedent in their family after they landed their role on Full House at just six months old, and they even got Elizabeth some of her first acting appearances in both Full House and How The West Was Fun when she was just a little tot.
They are now 36 years old and have totally ditched acting to focus on their fashion empire. And Ashley has been making headlines recently thanks to her rumored marriage to Louis Eisner.
One fun fact you probably don’t know: Mary-Kate and Ashley are actually fraternal twins *GASP*. That’s right, even though they look like a total copy and paste of one another, they’re actually not identical twins. Those must be some very consistent genes!
Courtney Taylor Olsen
Elizabeth’s younger half-sister, Courtney, is the daughter of their dad, David Olsen, and his second wife, McKenzie Olsen. She’s now 27 years old, but in her younger days, she had a few movie roles just like her big sisters. According to her IMDB, she can be seen in YOLO: The Movie and Malignant Spirits: Sense of Fiction.
She also has an active Instagram where she doesn’t post too much celeb sibling content, but has given Elizabeth at least one cute supportive sister shout out from the premiere of Avengers: Infinity War where she wrote, “Just admiring my badass of a sister.”
Jake Olsen
The youngest Olsen is definitely the hardest of the six siblings to pin down ’cause he seems to have gone totally under the radar in recent years. He did, however, try his hand at modeling a few years ago, and in an interview with Runway, he talked about what it was like growing up with so many siblings.
“In a family of six kids, you learn it’s not always about you. I love every chaotic moment I have when my family is all together. It’s a lot more normal then you would think…we all support each others dreams.”
Laura is a NYC-based freelance writer. When she’s not binging the latest true crime docu-series, she’s obsessing over all things Harry Styles, RHONY, and John Mulaney. You can follow her on Instagram @lauraehanrahan
