| Eunice Olsen | |
|---|---|
| Born | Eunice Elizabeth Olsen October 24, 1977 Singapore |
| Occupation | Actress, Host, Musician, Model, Businesswoman |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Website | |
| euniceolsen.com | |
Eunice Olsen is known for having been the winner of the Miss Singapore Universe pageant in 2000. In November 2004, Olsen was appointed as a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) in Singapore by President SR Nathan,[1] making her the youngest ever at the age of 27. In 2006, she was conferred the Singapore Youth Award for her dedication to the community, youth work and being an inspirational role model.[2] In 2008, Olsen was the proud recipient of the prestigious ASEAN Youth Award[3] and was recently nominated as a Young Global Leader representing Singapore at the World Economic Forum.[4] In the 2010 Youth Olympic Games held in Singapore, she was one of the Flag bearers for the Singapore Flag.[5]
In addition to her entertainment work, she champions causes for people with disabilities, the environment, youth at risks, awareness on cervical cancer and AIDS to name a few.
In March 2009, Olsen was ranked in the top 10 most beautiful politicians in the world by an online poll.[6] In December 2010, U.S. magazine, Esquire, chose her as the sexiest woman in Singapore in their Sexiest Woman Alive Atlas.[7]
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Eunice Olsen was born in Singapore. She is the only child of Alice Yap and Francis Olsen. A Eurasian Singaporean, her mother is Chinese and her father is of Swedish and Portuguese descent. At the age of three, her parents enrolled her into Yamaha music school where she developed her love for music and performing. She attended Woodlands Primary School, Singapore, St. Margaret's Secondary School and Anglo-Chinese Junior College. She completed her degree at the National University of Singapore where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy.
In 2000, Olsen decided to take part in that year’s Miss Singapore Universe pageant. She went on to win the title and was sent to Cyprus, Greece for the Miss Universe pageant. Deciding to put her title to good use, she approached the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre and was directed to the Toa Payoh Girl’s Home.
Her work at the Toa Payoh Girl’s Home and Andrew and Grace Home spurred her to seek out other opportunities in youth activities. In 2002, she became a member of the advisory council for the People’s Association’s youth movement T-Net Club (Teens Network Club). She has also been a member of the Kebun Baru Youth Executive Committee since 2001. Olsen has also worked with many organizations including the Singapore Red Cross, Worldvision, Habitat for Humanity[8] and the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Singapore.
In November 2004, Olsen was appointed as a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) in Singapore. Her main role as an NMP was to highlight issues pertaining to youth and volunteerism. In the course of her term she touched on issues like access to public transport for the disabled, legislation for child sex tourism, enhancing supervisory guidance for Voluntary Welfare Organizations and sex education. In the parliamentary debate on Integrated Resorts in 2005, Olsen called for stronger measures to address social problems of compulsive gambling, including mandating a loss limit for casino patrons and to require the casino operator to provide responsible gambling counseling services.[9] She also called for the captioning of the Channel 5 English news programme.
Apart from parliamentary duties, Olsen was involved with organizations like the Handicap Welfare Association and became the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre’s Youth Ambassador. Her other ambassadorships included Beyond Social Services’ BABES program for pregnant teenage mums[10] and the Red Cross national blood program[11] to actively promote the importance of donating blood. Olsen served two terms and remained an NMP until 2009. She did not apply for a third term in parliament.[12]
| Title | Year | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wheel of Fortune | 2002–2003 | Co-Host | TV series |
| A Child’s Hope | 2003 | Dr. Joanne Su[13] | TV series |
| No Place Like Home[14] | 2003 | Felicia[15] | TV series |
| FRONT | 2006–2007 | Co-Host | TV series |
| The Arena | 2007 | Judge | TV series |
| Rouge | 2008 | Host | TV Talk Show |
| U Are The One | 2008 | Judge | TV series |
| Fourplay | 2008 | Host | TV series[16] |
| Sing To The Dawn[17] | 2008 | Voice Talent | Animated Film |
| The Duke | 2009 | Co-Host | TV Talk Show |
| Red Thread | 2009 | Carol Chong | TV series |
| Hunting Tales | 2010 | Grace | Short Film |
| The Smartemizer[18] | 2010 | Felicia | Short Film |
| Before I Was Awesome | 2010 | Vivi | TV series |
| Beauty First | 2011 | Host | TV series |
| Red Numbers (红字) | 2011 | Number 8 (8号的妈咪) | Feature Film |
Olsen first came into the public eye in 2002 when she was selected to be the co-host of Singapore's version of the popular TV game show Wheel of Fortune.,[19] taking on the role of Vanna White in the Singapore version of the game show. She then went on to co-host 3 seasons of FRONT, an Arts Central production that took a edgy look at the arts scene in Singapore. In 2007, She was a judge on Channel 5’s International Emmy Award nominated youth debate program The Arena and on Channel U’s biggest talent search show, U Are The One. In 2008, she hosted Rouge, an award nominated talk show that had themes and trends concerning Singaporean women and featured a mix of celebrity interviews and real-life stories.[20] Olsen made her English acting debut on Channel 5's first long form English drama Red Thread[21] and co-hosted an exciting men's magazine lifestyle show on AXN, The Duke.[22] In 2010, Olsen starred in an Okto original production 10-part comedy TV series Before I Was Awesome.[23] She is to appear in a mandarin movie Red Numbers (红字) that will be released later this year.[24]
With a grade 8 in practical and theory for piano, Olsen started teaching at the age of 17. In university, she was part of a hostel band and was president of the Electronic Music Lab at the Centre for the Arts.[25] In 2004, she released an album in Korea entitled Believe .
Eunice Olsen is part of a duo called 7 States . She is joined by music producer and sound designer Rennie Gomes.[26] Together, they have written a Christmas song, produced a kids album and scored a short film for one of Singapore’s most acclaimed film directors, Royston Tan, titled Anniversary.[27] 7 States has also written a song titled Light which they dedicated to the athletes of the Singapore Youth Olympic Games in 2010.[28] 7 States recently performed, featuring Humaa Rathor, at the “From Singapore With Love” Benefit concert 2011. This was in support of World vision’s earthquake relief work in China, Myanmar and Japan.[29]
Eunice Olsen is the latest ambassador for BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™), the popular mobile social network for the BlackBerry® community. She joins 4 other ambassadors from the region – Professional footballer James Younghusband from the Philippines, Thai singer Chin Chinawut, Malaysian Designer Sonny San and former model Annisa Pohan from Indonesia in the latest BBM™ campaign 2011.[30] She was also appointed spokesperson[31] for Cosme Decorte’s latest range of beauty products, AQMW, in 2011.
Olsen was appointed in 2009 by Shell Singapore as its FuelSave Ambassador to help local motorists save more on their fuel expenditure.[32] She attended the Shell Eco-Marathon in Dresden, Germany in May 2009 and competed against other FuelSave ambassadors from around the world in a one-litre challenge. She emerged second out of the seven ambassadors, achieving an amazing result of 20.8 km/litre of fuel.[33][34] Olsen has since attended two more Shell Eco-Marathons in Sepang, Malaysia[35] and led a Shell FuelSave Challenge in Singapore in June 2011.[36]
Selected as the first ever brand ambassador for Nescafé Gold, she was the face of the Taste It All campaign that ran across OOH, press and in-store from 2009 to 2011.[37] In 2008, Olsen was picked by hair products brand Redken to be its first official spokeswoman for Singapore. A press statement issued by L'Oréal Singapore said she was the perfect choice with her graceful sophistication and perfect marriage of brain, beauty, attitude and style.[38]