After achieving her English degree from Cambridge University, British actress Olivia Williams began studying drama at the Bristol Old Vic theatre school for two years. Her acting career began onstage, working with the Royal Shakespeare Company, which eventually led her to a four-month tour in the United States in a production of Richard III starring Sir Ian McKellen.

The tour drew her to the attention of Kevin Costner, who hand picked her for his film, The Postman (1997). Playing Abby, an independent post-apocalyptic woman looking for a man to inseminate her, Williams burst out of relative obscurity. She soon found herself playing starring roles in other major film productions including Rushmore (1998) and The Sixth Sense (1999).

At the start of the new millennium, Williams hopped back an forth across the pond to work on both American and European films such as The Body (2000), Dead Babies (2000), Lucky Break and Below (both 2002).

Williams' other roles include small parts on television in England and some dramatic radio roles. She also co-starred in the cable television presentation of Emma playing Jane Fairfax. In 2003, she won a British Independent Film Award as Best Actress in The Heart of Me (2002). 

Credit: tribute.ca