Miss Universe Singapore In 2000, Olsen won the
Miss Universe Singapore pageant.
Social causes Her work with "at-risk" youth began with work at the Toa Payoh Girl's Home She promotes awareness of
cervical cancer and for the
Singapore Red Cross. She has also been a goodwill ambassador for
World Vision,
Habitat for Humanity, and the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Singapore. She created the annual All Smiles Day in 2013 as a day of respite for caregivers of the Rare Disorder Society. Olsen has worked in rural
Cambodia building sanitation facilities for evacuated communities. She developed a feminine hygiene program, Project Precious, to educate women in rural communities. The program has been adapted for use in Cambodia,
India,
Nepal, and the
United States. Olsen has served as a goodwill ambassador for the Embassy of Sweden in Singapore.
Media In 2002, Olsen was selected to be the co-host of Singapore's version of the TV game show
Wheel of Fortune. She went on to co-host three seasons of
FRONT, an
Arts Central production that examined Singapore's arts scene. In 2007, she was a judge on
Channel 5's youth debate program,
The Arena. She hosted
Rouge in 2008, a talk show concerning Singaporean women, featuring a mix of celebrity interviews and real-life stories. Olsen made her English acting debut on
Channel 5's first long-form English drama,
Red Thread, and co-hosted a men's magazine lifestyle show on
AXN,
The Duke. In August 2013, Olsen founded
WomenTalkTV, an online talk show featuring extraordinary women from all over
Asia. The show's goal is the social empowerment of Asian women. WomenTalkTV was nominated for an
International Emmy Award in the Digital Program: Non-Fiction category in 2014. She hosted Channel NewsAsia's "Becoming Singapore", the flagship documentary for the Singapore Bicentennial in 2019. In 2020, Olsen hosted a web documentary series,
Mundane Glory, which celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China for Mango TV. Olsen has represented, in various capacities, commercial brands such as Omega,
Motorola Electronics, Goldheart Jewelry,
Redken,
Nescafé Gold, Shell Petroleum Fuel Save Ambassador,
BlackBerry Messenger, Physiogel,
L'Oréal Lancome Genefique,
The Body Shop.
Politics In November 2004, Olsen was appointed 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 organisations, and sex education in schools. In the 2005 parliamentary debate on
Integrated Resort, Olsen called for stronger measures to address the social problems of
compulsive gambling, including mandating a loss limit for casino patrons and requiring the casino operator to provide responsible
gambling counselling services. She championed inclusivity for people with disabilities and called for the captioning of the
Channel 5 English news program. Olsen served two terms and remained an NMP until 2009. She did not apply for a third term in parliament.
Advisory boards Olsen is an advisor to
Space for Humanity, a non-profit organisation headquartered in
Denver, Colorado. She is currently a member of the
National Museum of Singapore's advisory board and a management committee member of Club HEAL.
Author Olsen published the children's book "''I'm a Girl. See what I can be!"'' in 2018, which consists of a series of poems about ten women from the video series WomenTalk. The book is illustrated by 10 autistic Singaporean artists and designed by HATCH design. It was successfully crowdfunded on
Indiegogo.
Speaker and moderator Olsen has been engaged to speak globally on a wide range of topics from women's empowerment to leadership, resilience, and various social issues. She is a keynote speaker and has spoken at international events such as the Cartier Women's Awards, the
United Nations, and LH Forum in France, as well as in educational institutions around the world such as Harvard and universities in India, and in various parts of Southeast Asia including
Vietnam,
the Philippines, and
Singapore. Olsen had also moderated various forums and events with high-profile individuals such as
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, the former
Prime Minister of Denmark, and panelists from the Swedish Embassy's Disability Forum. On 6 May 2020, Olsen moderated an online webinar for
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) titled "Live Chat on
COVID-19: How MSF Responds to a
Pandemic." On 31 October 2020, Olsen co-hosted the first digital edition of
The Purple Parade, which was streamed live on
Facebook.
Music In university, Olsen was part of a band and was president of the Electronic Music Lab at the Centre for the Arts. In 2004, she released an album in
South Korea entitled Believe. Olsen was part of a duo called 7 States. She was joined by music producer and sound designer Rennie Gomes of Yellowbox. 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. 7 States has also written a song titled "Light" that they dedicated to the athletes of the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympic Games. 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. == Personal life ==