Olsen (b.1947, Christchurch-d.2014) studied at the University Of Canterbury School of Fine Arts. Her practice spanned across decades and disciplines; from screen-printed fabrics in the 1960s, to material explorations into papier-mâché, cloth, linen, rope, fibreglass, and pastel paintings in the 1980s. Her exploratory practice informed her later well-known paintings of eerie, overflowing cauldrons constructed in an expressive and textural manner. Her work is held in a number of collections across New Zealand.
