Olin worked as a substitute teacher, and as a hospital nurse, before becoming an actress.
Film career
Olin performed for over a decade with Sweden's Royal Dramatic Theatre-ensemble (1980–1994) in plays by William Shakespeare and August Strindberg, and appeared in smaller roles of several Swedish films directed by Bergman and in productions of Swedish Television's TV-Theatre Company.[3]
In 1980, Olin was one of the earliest winners of the Ingmar Bergman Award,[6] initiated in 1978 by the director himself, who was also one of the two judges.[7]
Olin and director Lasse Hallström collaborated on the film Chocolat (2000), which received five Academy Award nominations, and worked together again on Casanova (2005).
In 2002, Olin appeared in her first American television role, joining the main cast of Alias for its second season, playing the role of Irina Derevko. For her work on the series, Olin was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2003.[8] She left the show after one season, reprising Derevko for the season four two-part finale, returned for two season five mid-season appearances and again for the season five series finale.
In 2005, Olin returned to Sweden for a brief period of filming and starred in a supporting role in Danish director Simon Staho's film, Bang Bang Orangutang.
In 2008, Olin appeared in the Oscar-nominated film The Reader, playing a Jewish survivor of the Auschwitzdeath march at a trial in the 1960s, and as the woman's daughter twenty years later.[9][10]
