Career beginnings Olsen began her acting career at the age of six months old when she and Ashley were hired to share the role of
Michelle Tanner on the popular
television sitcom Full House (1987–1995). She starred alongside her twin sister in the films, ''
To Grandmother's House We Go (1992), Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993), How the West Was Fun (1994), It Takes Two (1995), Billboard Dad (1998) and in the television series, Two of a Kind (1998–1999). In 1997, the Olsen twins guest starred in an episode of Sister, Sister'', which starred twin actresses
Tia Mowry and
Tamera Mowry.
Dualstar In 1993, following Mary-Kate and Ashley's success on
Full House, a
limited liability company,
Dualstar Entertainment Group was created to produce
Mary-Kate and Ashley-branded products. It produced a successful long string of
TV movies and
direct-to-video releases featuring the girls. They starred in
Passport to Paris (1999),
Switching Goals (1999),
Our Lips Are Sealed (2000),
Winning London (2001),
Holiday in the Sun (2001) and in the television series,
So Little Time (2001–2002). They became household names and popular figures in the
preteen market during the late 1990s and early 2000s, with Mary-Kate's likeness seen in clothes, books, fragrances, magazines, movies, and posters, among others. There were fashion dolls of her made by
Mattel from 2000 to 2005. They also starred in the films
Getting There (2002),
When in Rome (2002),
The Challenge (2003) and made cameos in ''
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003). In 2004, the twins appeared in their final and light-hearted romantic comedy film, New York Minute''. That same year upon their 18th birthday, both Mary-Kate and Ashley took control of Dualstar, becoming joint-
CEOs and presidents of the company, which at the time had its merchandise being carried in over 3,000 stores in America and 5,300 stores worldwide. These ventures, combined with an array of licensing deals for their names and likenesses, made Olsen wealthy at a young age. In 2004, Olsen's and her twin sister’s wealth was estimated at $137 million each.
Retirement Olsen's first solo acting appearance was in the movie
Factory Girl (2006). Her one short scene was ultimately cut from theatrical release, but was included on the film's Unrated version on DVD and Blu-ray. In 2007, she had a recurring role on the television show,
Weeds, and the twins said that if they became involved in movies together again, it would be as producers. In 2008, Olsen made a guest appearance on the
ABC comedy
Samantha Who? as a self-destructive girl that Samantha tries to help. That same year, she also appeared in the film
The Wackness. In 2011, Olsen appeared in
the motion picture adaption of the
Alex Flinn novel
Beastly, which was her final acting project. In March 2012, both Mary-Kate and Ashley indicated their interest to retire as actresses in order to focus on their careers in fashion. They discussed wanting to open a store as one of their future fashion-based endeavors. In 2015, it was announced that
John Stamos signed on with
Netflix to produce and co-star in
Fuller House, a spin-off of
Full House that would reunite the original cast members for a 13-episode series. However, in May of that year, Mary-Kate and Ashley announced that they would not reprise their role as
Michelle Tanner. A month prior to the announcement,
Nickelodeon acquired the rights to the twins' video library.
Net worth and influence In 2007,
Forbes ranked the twins jointly as the eleventh-richest women in entertainment, with an estimated combined net worth of $100 million. ==Fashion career==