Biography

Nicole Oliver is a performer to watch…she has the kind of skill and talent…that transcends geographical boundaries…She is truly on the verge of something big!

You know you’ve made it in Canada when you’ve been spoofed by The Royal Canadian Air Farce.  Nicole had that distinct pleasure following the airing, over two consecutive Christmas seasons, of Cantel Amigo’s sentimental commercial campaign.  That ad marked the beginning of a string of jobs in Toronto, most notably, for four seasons she played the role of Detective Kelly Blake in Warner Brother’s popular action series Kung Fu: The Legend Continues. Of working with Nicole, Executive Producer Michael Sloan remarked….  She shows intensity and depth combined with a sense of fun, something I’ve come across rarely.

Roles in feature films and telefilms soon followed. Nicole has worked on many MOWs for most of the major networks, including the lead in ABC Family Channel’s I Want to Marry Ryan Banks.  The Falling, written and directed by Raul Sanchez Inglis marked Nicole’s first lead role in a feature film.  From vixen to victim, from conquest to conqueror, the role of Karis gave Nicole an incredible opportunity to strut her acting chops.  This award-winning inventive, psychological drama played at various film festivals around the globe, most notably the Chicago and Toronto International Film Festival.

Most recently, Nicole was nominated for a Leo Award for her supporting lead role performance as Lori Towers in Rampage Entertainment’s golf reunion comedy ‘The Foursome’. Starring beside Kevin Dillon (Poseidon, Golden Globe® nominated series Entourage on HBO) ‘The Foursome’ is based on the highly successful play by Norm Foster and directed by William Dear (Harry & the Henderson’s, Angels in the Outfield).  This golf comedy unites four friends and their spouses at their 20-year college reunion and is based on the extremely successful Canadian play of the same name. 

This versatile and dynamic actress has been able to work both “sides” of her native Canada with much success and recognition.  After answering a call to “Go West”, Nicole quickly racked up an impressive number of guest starring and recurring roles in Vancouver and on subsequent return visits to Toronto.  Her credits include Beggars and Choosers, I Want to Marry Ryan Banks, Da Vinci's Inquest, The Collector, The Immortal, Outer Limits, Stargate SG-1, Dead Man’s Gun, FX: The Series First Wave and Alliance’s sci-fi series Welcome to Paradox. The role sheplays in Paradox, Captain Pangbornwas originally scripted for a man but the producers and the director were so impressed withNicolethat they re-wrote the role specifically for her.  Her most recent television appearances include a promotional appearance on HGTV’s new series ‘She’s Crafty’ with gal pal Wendy Russell and a guest star role in season two of the USA Networks hot comedy show, ‘Psych’. 

Nicole believes that diversification is the key to success in the entertainment industry and so with that in mind, Oliver has signed on to host the fifth season of Slice Network's successful TV series Crash Test Mommy.  Crash Test Mommy delves into the relationships between moms and their competitive friends and relatives.  Mom is whisked away for a luxury weekend while her most vocal critic is catapulted into taking care of Mom’s household for 48 hours. Nicole’s empathy, coupled with her wicked sense of humour, make her the perfect companion to any mom who’s out to prove her worth.  With Nicole at her side, Mom is empowered to push the limits while setting the agenda for the Crash Test Mommy’s challenges, as together they watch and evaluate the action on the home front.

Nicole is also in demand in the competitive voice-over market as the voice of everything from tampons to toothpaste.  This voice specialist has lent her distinctive tones to such products as Crest, Lever 2000, American Express, Pears, Starbucks, Oldsmobile Intrigue, Salon Selectives, Swiss Chalet, Old El Paso and Claritin to name but a few.  Nicole’s most current voice over work includes the voice of Swiss Chalet and Club House, which is currently airing throughout Canada.  She also narrated ‘Greenpeace, Making a Stand’ which aired on Global Television.

Nicole has also worked extensively in animation and can be heard as the voice of numerous cartoon characters, including Dalphine in Barbie Fairytopia-Mermadia; Mom in Krypto the Superdog; Mrs. Cramp in The Cramp Twins; Key, the lead character in the popular anime Key the Metal Idol and the Sorceress and Queen Marlena in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Most recently, Nicole worked with producer Stan Lee, (Spider Man, X-Men), starring as Agent Newell in the recently released to DVD animation movie ‘Mosaic’ along side Anna Paquin as Maggie Nelson (The Squid and the Whale, Almost Famous). ‘Stormhawks’ is Nicole’s next big animation series coming out this fall 2007, signed for two seasons airing on YTV in Canada and the Cartoon Network in the US, UK, France and Latin America.

Nicole attended York University and graduated with a bachelor of fine arts with honours.  She continued her studies in London and Oxford at the prestigious British American Dramatic Academy, an institution that is affiliated with Yale University.  Nicole had a dream team of instructors, including Jeremy Irons. 

Her mother introduced Nicole to her husband at a screening at the Toronto Film Festival.  It took some time before they met up again at his workplace in Vancouver.  After commuting between Toronto, Los Angeles and Vancouver for her career, she knew that Chris Ainscough, an award-winning composer in the film industry, was her future.  They live in Vancouver with their proudest achievements to date, their two sons William and Grady.