Was a highly regarded hockey player in high school and a pre-med student at Pepperdine University.
Grew up in Bettendorf, Iowa.
His senior year (1995), he was a staff writer for the Bettendorf High School's monthly newspaper, "The Growl."
His first acting job was in a Whitey's ice cream parlor TV commercial.
He had a principal role in nearly every high school play and musical for 4 years and even some of the high school plays when he was in elementary school.
Has an older brother
He attended Hope College in Holland, Michigan his first year out of high school and left to pursue his acting career.
Eric Christian Olsen Detailed Biography -
Eric Christian Olsen (born May 31, 1978) is an American Actor.
Olsen studies pre-med at Pepperdine University. His main interest was sports in high school, but in 1996 he went to California with $500 in his pocket. In his first week he scored a guest role on the ABC-TV series High Incident, executive-produced by Steven Spielberg. His next guest appearance was on the Fox TV series Millennium.
His next roles were in Black Cat Run before making his big screen debut in the leading role of Arthur in Arthur’s Quest.
Having a lead role under his belt, he soon landed a recurring role in the Fox TV series Get Real, playing Cameron Green. The series lasted for a year but he had a mermorable role as a burn victim, before landing another recurring role on the short-lived series Ruling Class. He played a gunner in Pearl Harbor, then landed a leading role in the teen send up feature film Not Another Teen Movie.
One day, after a bad audition, Olsen bought a surfboard and taught himself to surf and soon feel in love with the sport. In Local Boys, he got the chance to show off the surfing skills. Olsen next played Jake in the teen comedy The Hot Chick. Next he played Lloyd Christmas in Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd in the prequel to the hit movie Dumb and Dumber, which was a huge flop, but Olsen scored a role in Cellular, starring Kim Basinger. It also paired him with Chris Evans for the second time.
