Olivia Olson Biography

Olivia Rose Olson (born May 21, 1992) is an American actress and singer-songwriter, known for her role as Joanna singing "All I Want for Christmas Is You" in Love Actually (2003) and for her voice roles as Vanessa Doofenshmirtz in Phineas and Ferb and Marceline the Vampire Queen in Adventure Time. Olson is also a writer, contributing a section to the best-seller Adventure Time Encyclopedia and an upcoming book for Cartoon Network.

Personal life

Olson was adopted at birth and raised in Los Angeles, California. She lives with her mother, brother and father, comedy writer Martin Olson. Olson graduated from Agoura High School in 2010. She is of Jamaican and Swedish descent.

Career

Olson has appeared as a singer and actress on television shows and in live theatre, including Comedy Central Stage, the HBO Theater, The Fake Gallery, and the Disney Channel series Phineas and Ferb. Olson has also appeared on The Tracy Morgan Show and guest starred on The Ellen DeGeneres Show singing with DeGeneres, actor Jack Black and Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth. She is currently a cast member and singer on two animated series: Cartoon Network's series Adventure Time, playing Marceline the Vampire Queen and on Disney's animated series Phineas and Ferb playing Vanessa Doofenshmirtz, the sarcastic daughter of the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz. In Adventure Time, her father, Martin, plays Marceline's dad Hunson Abadeer and Marceline sang a short song about him eating her French fries. She also sings a number of songs in Phineas and Ferb, including the duet "Busted!" with Ashley Tisdale as well as popular solo songs, including "I'm Me," "Not So Bad a Dad After All," "I'm Lindana and I Wanna Have Fun," "Happy New Year" and many others, including her song in the Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation 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, Camara Kambon and Hollywood jazz great Rob Mullins.

2003: Love Actually

Olson rose to fame for her role as Joanna Anderson in the 2003 holiday film Love Actually, singing the song "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Her singing was praised, with director Richard Curtis stating in the commentary in the music section of the Love Actually DVD 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 to Mariah Carey's voice. 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 Tracy Morgan Show and singing with Jack Black and Kristin Chenoweth. Olson also posted original songs on her YouTube account.

2007-2015: Phineas and Ferb, Adventure Time and Beauty Is Chaos

From 2007 to 2015, Olson voiced the recurring character Vanessa Doofenshmirtz in the Disney animated series Phineas and Ferb along with actor Thomas Sangster (Ferb Fletcher), who played Joanna's love interest Sam in Love Actually. Her character is described as a punk goth, the sarcastic daughter of the not-so-evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz. She occasionally attempts to thwart her father's evil schemes regarding her mother, always ending in failure. Although she is a sarcastic and spoiled teenager, she also has a kind heart and loves her parents. Olson's father, Martin, was a head writer for the first season of the show, and one of the main songwriters at Disney throughout the series. In 2010, Olson got the role of Marceline the Vampire Queen on the animated Cartoon Network series Adventure Time. The series has been a commercial and popular success and her character is one of the most popular ones. Her character is similar to that of Vanessa on Phineas and Ferb, in which she has problems with her evil father, along with their dark personalities. Marceline is a fun-loving, mischief-seeking 1,005-year-old vampire who looks like a teenager. She has an involved back story that is explored throughout the show. She first appeared as an antagonist, but later appears to be the main characters' (Finn and Jake's) friends. Like Phineas and Ferb, she sings often on the show, including the popular song "The Fry Song," in which she sings about her father eating her fries and how sad she is, even though it is something much deeper. In the Adventure Time mini-series "Stakes," Olson performs the popular song "Everything Stays," which was revealed by Olson and Rebecca Sugar at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. Her character has become popular with fans and there is a wide range of Marceline products available, such as shirts, action figures, key chains, plushes, wallets, belts, necklaces and bracelets, etc. She frequently posts original music on her YouTube account Olivia Olson. On July 18, 2013, Olson released her debut EP Beauty Is Chaos. In August 2014, Olson told a crowd of fans gathered at a Barnes & Noble book signing for The Adventure Time Encyclopedia that series creator Pendleton Ward had told her Marceline and Princess Bubblegum dated in the past, but because the series airs in some areas where homosexual relationships are illegal, the show hadn't been able to officially make clear the relationship; this has yet to be officially confirmed. Olson has also performed the song "Haven't You Noticed (I'm A Star)" which was featured on the September 17, 2015 episode of Steven Universe 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 with other cast members from her shows.

Discography

Albums

• The Father-Daughter Album Of Unspeakable Beauty (With Martin Olson) (2013)

Extended plays

• Beauty Is Chaos (2013)

Soundtrack albums

• Love Actually (2003)
• Phineas and Ferb (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)

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Love Actually	Joanna Anderson
2011	Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension	2nd Dimension Vanessa Doofenshirmtz (deleted scene)	Voice role Third time working with Thomas Sangster

Television

Television Roles
Year	Show	Role	Appearances
2004	The Tracy Morgan Show	Julia	One episode, "Career Day"
2006	Zoey 101	Girl #1	One episode, "Broadcast Views"
2007-2015	Phineas and Ferb	Vanessa Doofenshmirtz	Voice role Second time working with Thomas Sangster
2010-present	Adventure Time	Marceline the Vampire Queen	Voice role
2015	Steven Universe	Pop Singer	Sings "Haven't You Noticed (I'm a Star)"
2017	Milo Murphy's Law	Concert Planner	One episode, "Battle of the Bands"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I Don't Know!	Marceline the Vampire Queen
2015	Adventure Time: Finn & Jake Investigations
	Lego Dimensions		Voice role