Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen stepped away from the spotlight in the early 2010s: Inside their lives now
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen stepped away from the spotlight in the early 2010s: Inside their lives now
Britt HayesTue, June 30, 2026 at 6:11 PM UTC
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Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen on 'Full House'; Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen at the WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards on November 7, 2018 in New York CityCredit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Bennett Raglin/GettyKey Points -
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen were famous child stars in the '90s.
In addition to Full House, the twins created a billion-dollar media and merchandising empire.
After retiring from acting in the 2000s, they launched a luxury fashion label.
Ever since Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen retired from acting, the former stars of Full House have become increasingly elusive, making the rare casual sighting of the sisters something of an event. The Olsens recently made headlines after attending a family member's wedding; photos were shared to social media and excitedly circulated online, leading to renewed curiosity about the sisters.
It's not that the Olsens are reclusive in a worrying sense, but they are demonstrably less interested in participating in the media circus — they haven't even given an interview since 2021. While they're no longer acting, the former child stars are still wildly successful, if not nearly as visible as they once were.
If you've been wondering what happened to the Olsen twins, here's a look at their early careers and what they've been up to since Full House ended.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen became household names on Full House
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen on 'Full House'Credit: Craig Sjodin/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty
The Olsen twins were just six months old when they were cast as Michelle, the youngest and most endearing of the Tanner siblings on Full House. The sitcom, which debuted in 1987, starred the late Bob Saget as patriarch Danny Tanner, a widower raising his three daughters with the help of his brother-in-law Jesse (John Stamos) and his best friend, Joey (Dave Coulier).
Despite briefly losing their jobs when Stamos had them fired at just 11 months old, the Olsens became the breakout stars of Full House, and in 1992, they starred in their first made-for-TV movie: To Grandmother's House We Go. The following year, when they were 6 years old, the Olsens launched their first company, Dualstar, and started producing their own projects, including made-for-TV movies like Double, Double Toil and Trouble (1993) and How the West Was Fun (1994).
After Full House ended its run in 1995, the Olsens made their proper big-screen debut in the comedy It Takes Two, starring Kirstie Alley and Steve Guttenberg. A modest hit at the box office, the film starred Mary-Kate as a scrappy orphan and Ashley as a privileged kid from a wealthy family who swap places, unbeknownst to their caretakers.
The Olsen twins went from mini-moguls to millionaires in the '00s
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in 'Our Lips Are Sealed'Credit: Dualstar/Courtesy Everett
Throughout the rest of the '90s, the Olsens continued churning out videos, including You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's, the musical video series that gave us the treasured millennial touchstone "Gimme Pizza." In addition to the occasional guest spot on shows like Sister, Sister and 7th Heaven, the Olsens made two more attempts at sitcoms with Two of a Kind and So Little Time — both of which were unfortunately canceled after just one season.
In 2004, they appeared in their final film together, the teen comedy New York Minute, costarring Eugene Levy and Andy Richter, and featuring a cameo from their former Full House dad, Bob Saget. That same year, the Olsens turned 18 and became the presidents of Dualstar, licensing their likeness to clothing, accessories, fragrances, home goods, and even their own Barbie dolls for Mattel.
The young millionaires continued successfully appealing to tweens and teens, many of whom grew up watching the Olsens, and managed to turn their company into a billion-dollar empire, all while attending college at New York University. Given their lifelong fame, the Olsens unfortunately became fodder for the paparazzi, and the tabloid coverage only increased as they entered adulthood. Though some of the stories focused on their enviable style, much of it was devoted to speculating about their appearance and mental health.
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Mary-Kate continued acting after her sister left the industry behind. She appeared in Factory Girl, the 2006 Edie Sedgwick biopic starring Sienna Miller, and in the 2008 indie The Wackness, opposite fellow former child star Josh Peck. She also had a memorable recurring role in season 3 of the Showtime series Weeds.
In 2012, the Olsens both confirmed they were retired from acting. "I don't have to be a pretty face," Ashley told Elle UK. "I've done that, but now it's important and liberating to be on the other side of the lens. I don't like to be the center of attention anymore."
"It just felt right to move away," Mary-Kate added. By then, their sister's star was rising. Following her breakout role in the 2011 indie thriller Martha Marcy May Marlene, Elizabeth Olsen landed the part of Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. Scarlet Witch, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and became a household name in her own right.
The Olsens' fashion brand is more successful than ever
Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen at the 2019 CFDA fashion awards in New York City on June 3, 2019Credit: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty
In the years since they retired from acting, the Olsens have continued to manage their successful luxury fashion brand, with Ashley serving as CEO and Mary-Kate as creative director of The Row. The sisters sort of inadvertently launched the brand when Ashley was trying to design the perfect T-shirt. "It was something we just wanted for ourselves," Ashley told WWD in 2015. "It wasn’t something that I thought would ever be a business."
Despite their celebrity, the Olsens didn't have the easiest time transforming The Row into the chic purveyor of coveted fashion that it became. "We would be selling the clothes off of us,” Mary-Kate told WWD, recalling their an early attempt to sell a collection in Paris. “We had a rack and the stores would come in and say, ‘OK, explain every garment, take us through it.’ And they would say, ‘If you’re here next season we’ll do this again.’"
The Olsens opened The Row's first physical store on Los Angeles' Melrose Place in 2014, followed by a New York City flagship location in 2015. They also earned numerous accolades for their fashion, including five CFDA Awards.
In recent years, the Olsens have somewhat receded from the spotlight. Though they're occasionally photographed at fashion shows and events, the sisters seemingly maintain a high level of control over their image. "Discreet people — that’s how we were raised," Mary-Kate told i-D magazine in 2021, in what is the sisters' last interview to date.
"We really didn’t want to be in front of it," Ashley said of marketing The Row. "We didn’t necessarily even want to let people know it was us, in a way. I mean, it was one of those things where it was really about the product, to the point where we’re like, ‘Who could we get to kind of front this so we don’t have to?’ I think, to this day, you’ll see we really put the product first."
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
