Life of Forgotten Olsen Twins’ Sibling Revealed As He Lives in Shadow of Multi-Millionaire Sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley
Trent Olsen stepped back from his own acting career to help support his younger siblings.
June 10 2025, Published 1:25 p.m. ET
The life of the forgotten Olsen twins' older sibling has been revealed.
RadarOnline.com can reveal details about James Trent Olsen, who is the older sibling of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, and how he opted to take a step back out of the limelight.
Family Fame
Back in the '90s, Mary-Kate and Ashley became household names on the iconic family sitcom 'Full House.'
Back in the '90s, Mary-Kate and Ashley became household names on the iconic family sitcom Full House, both starring as Michelle Tanner.
After skyrocketing to worldwide fame, the young twins grew up in the spotlight and built one of the biggest teen empires – which included fashion brands, movies, television sitcoms, dolls and more.
While Mary-Kate and Ashley achieved success at a very young age, their older brother appeared to be on a similar path to stardom until he left Hollywood and decided to step into an advisory role to his very famous siblings.
James Trent, who technically goes by just Trent, now 41, initially had dreams of becoming an actor and appeared in several of his sisters' films after he majored in jazz studies at the University of Southern California.
A source told the Daily Mail: "Most people have no idea how close Mary-Kate and Ashley are with their brother. He's not just their sibling – he's been their anchor for their whole lives and was there for everything – from their rise to fame through the Full House years and into their mogul era.
"Trent played more of a dad role than a brother sometimes. It was intense, they needed that kind of tough love, and they knew it."
Trent Steps Back
Despite pushing his own acting career to the side to support his sisters, Trent made several cameos in their films.
Despite pushing his own acting career to the side to support his sisters, Trent made several cameos in their films including – You're Invited to Mary-Kate & Ashley's Sleepover Party.
But at only 12 years old, his acting career was already over.
The site's insider explained while Trent grew up around the industry, it "wasn't really his thing," and he prefers to spend his time outdoors and reading comic books.
The insider added: "He was always there in the background holding it down for them. He's one of the only people who can call them out without sugarcoating anything, and they listen."
Olsen Lifestyles
While the Olsen twins are known for the lavish homes in Manhattan, Trent opted to go the more humble route.
While the Olsen twins are known for the lavish homes in Manhattan, Trent opted to go the more humble route and lives in a tiny West Hollywood apartment with rent allegedly costing a little under $4,000 a month.
Besides supporting his siblings, Trent was also listed as a staff member at Storm King Productions, which focused on vampire films and TV back in 2014.
Currently, Trent is the editor-in-chief of Rogue Matter, a comics-focused digital platform and appears to be engaged.
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Trent appears to be engaged.
While Trent stepped back to let his sisters have the spotlight, he utilized their fame to also earn some cash for himself by selling photos of Mary-Kate and Ashley in high school – which the family still "laughs" about years later.
The source joked: "They used to joke he was their brother PR pimp."
Even though Trent would often step into a parent role for the twins, he still was their big brother at the end of the day and "worried about them" while they were growing up in front of the world.
The source explained while the twins were going through their "party phase" in the late 90s and early 2000s, Trent "was constantly checking in, wanting to know where they were and who they were with."
