Biography

Olivia Cheng is a dynamic actress and activist from Edmonton, Alberta, the daughter of working-class Cantonese-speaking immigrant parents. It was they who helped co-found the Edmonton Chinese Bilingual Education Association's Mandarin program within the city's public school system to which Olivia credits for her ability to speak Mandarin and instilling in her a reverence for her culture.

She enrolled in her first acting class at age six, and at age 19 she booked her first local commercial. After high school, Olivia attended the University of Alberta where she earned a scholarship and early admittance to its commerce program. Unhappy in university, she enrolled at NAIT's Radio and Television Arts program the following year, which would lead her to a successful media career. After finishing school, she became a videographer for Global TV Lethbridge, before moving back to Edmonton to work as a broadcast and print journalist.

At the height of her journalism career, AMC was launching its original content division and came to Alberta with a Walter Hill-directed miniseries executive produced by Robert Duvall. They were looking for five Chinese actresses, but were willing to look at non-professionals as well. Duvall saw Olivia's audition and asked to bring her back. She was then cast in "Broken Trail", which was nominated for 16 Primetime Emmy Awards and would go on to win four, including the Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries. "Broken Trail" gave Olivia the push she needed; she moved to Vancouver and worked as a stringer correspondent for ET Canada, while she pursued her acting career full time.

In 2014 Olivia booked a breakout, leading role in the Netflix series "Marco Polo" which set a precedent for production, as one of the most expensive television series ever produced. She recently appeared in SYFY's "Deadly Class" executive produced by the Russo Brothers, and based on the popular comic books.

In 2022, Olivia reprised her starring role in the HBOMax Original series "Warrior" for a season 3 debut in 2023. The series is inspired by the writings and work of martial arts icon Bruce Lee. The series is from "Fast & Furious" director Justin Lin and HBO Cinemax's "Banshee" co-creator Jonathan Tropper. She also starred in 2022 for another season on AppleTV+'s hugely successful post-apocalyptic series SEE, led by Jason Momoa. Her first short film "Dinner with Dex" as a writer director premiered at the London International Film Festival in 2021 and has gone on to win awards at the Toronto Indie Filmmakers Festival and the Tokyo International Short Film Festival.
- IMDb mini biography by: MPR

Has toured parts of the world on a public speaking peace tour about the Nanking Holocaust.

Was a competitive gymnast.

Was a TV reporter.

Grew up attending Edmonton's Mandarin Bilingual Program which her parents helped co-found. Has since spoken Mandarin in at least two projects.

Traveled to California to research Iris Chang months before she knew about the docudrama she eventually played Iris Chang in.

In the movie, he's a surrogate father to us and in real life he made a real effort to get to know us. He was so kind and generous and immediately put us at ease. - On working with Robert Duvall for Broken Trail, Toronto Sun, January 13, 2006

I guess a lot of people didn't recognize that I was an actress as well. I've sort of been forced out of the closet with Broken Trail. - Toronto Sun, January 13, 2006