All About Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s Parents, David and Jarnette Olsen

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are part of a very private family.

Born in Sherman Oaks, California in 1986, the twins rose to fame after spending Full house, where they shared the role of Michelle Tanner. Their parents, David and Jarnette Olsen, were unfamiliar with Hollywood, so they often turned to counselors for help in their daughters’ careers. At the height of the twins’ fame, the couple divorced in 1996 and have largely stayed out of the limelight since their daughters took over their business at 18.

David was concerned about the amount of attention and media scrutiny the twins faced at such a young age. “They’re put on such a pedestal — my knees would shake,” he told PEOPLE in May 2004. “They’re not Disneyland kids. They are just real kids with real problems.”

Now the twins have left acting to focus on designing clothes for their brand The Row and rarely appear in public. In an interview with Marie Claire in August 2010, Mary-Kate stated that she “wouldn’t wish my upbringing on anyone” due to their grueling schedules.

“I look at my old pictures and I don’t feel connected to them at all,” she said, “but I wouldn’t take it for anything.”

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Here’s everything you need to know about the Olsen twins’ parents, David and Jarnette Olsen.

They divorced in 1996

Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen.

Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection/Getty

Although it is not known when David and Jarnette married, they eventually divorced in 1996 when the twins were 9 years old. After the couple split, David remarried a former colleague.

In an interview with May 1996 Entertainment Weekly, David said the split was amicable for all involved. “The reality is that the transition has been very smooth,” he said. “Everyone sees eye to eye. The girls are fine.”

Ashley echoed the same sentiment in a later interview with PEOPLE in May 2004. “To be honest, we were kind of busy at that point,” she said. We had so many people who loved us that we said, ‘That’s okay. It will be better this way.’ We were very mature for our age.”

They share four children together

Mary-Kate Olsen, Elizabeth Olsen and Ashley Olsen attend the Elizabeth and James flagship store opening celebration with InStyle on July 26, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.

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David and Jarnette have four children. They welcomed their only son, Trent Olsen, on May 6, 1984. Two years later, they had twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen on June 13, 1986, and then their youngest daughter, Elizabeth Olsen, on February 16, 1989.

Both Trent and Elizabeth also have ties to the entertainment industry. Trent previously worked for Storm King Productions and is the author of several comic books. Meanwhile, Elizabeth has built a successful acting career, starring in projects such as WandaVision and Ingrid goes west.

Jarnette got Mary-Kate and Ashley their roles Full house

Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen as Michelle Tanner in ‘Full House’.

Bob D’Amico/Disney General Entertainment/Getty

According to Los Angeles Times, when the twins were 6 months old, Jarnette went shopping with a friend and accompanied them to the office of their child’s agent. There, Jarnette mentioned that she had twin daughters, and the agent asked to see photos, which eventually led to the girls auditioning for Full house.

Jarnette was a former ballet dancer and David worked as a commercial real estate investor, so they had no prior experience in the entertainment industry. “It was the first time [Jarnette and Dave] ever been around anything like that,” said the late Bob Saget, who played the twins’ father on the show Los Angeles Times. “They were just parents. They were always there. Constantly.”

In an interview with February 1991 The Washington PostDavid said that “he didn’t mean it [Full House] intended to succeed.”

“I didn’t even want her to bother me about it,” he said of Jarnette sharing photos of the twins with a talent agent. “I said, ‘Honey, if you want to do it, fine.’ ”

The twins became breakout stars Full house, which launched their career in film and beyond. David said The Washington Post that the public fascination with his daughters is probably because they “use their personalities pretty well” and “are just kind of funny.”

They were not “attentive parents”

Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen during Mary-Kate and Ashley’s 3rd Annual Dualstar Summit.

Annamaria DiSanto/WireImage

Despite entering the entertainment business so young, Mary-Kate and Ashley have always had a hand in managing their careers. Although David and Jarnette helped manage the girls in the early days of their careers, Ashley told PEOPLE in May 2004 that they “never had parents on stage,” while Mary-Kate added that they were “definitely protected.”

Talking to Nylon in August 2006, Ashley shared that she and Mary-Kate were very involved in their business decisions from an early age.

“We’ve really been involved in the process since the beginning, even when we were only 10 years old,” she said. “We really don’t want our name on something we don’t approve of. It happens to so many people and my sister and I just want to keep it to ourselves and not sell ourselves in that way. We’ve been able to learn a lot over the years, and the more you know, the more you want to control things.”

Instead of running their careers entirely, David and Jarentte took on a protective role, introducing the twins to people who could help them run the business. The girl’s younger sister Elizabeth told Guard in September 2012 after Jarnette helped the twins land Full househer parents “had very little to do” with their work.

“They always did everything they could to match them up with the right people to do things, like child stars and property management and running production companies and so on, but they never pretended they could do it well themselves,” she said.

David helped manage Mary-Kate and Ashley’s finances

Although the twins took full control of their business at the age of 18, David helped them manage their finances during their childhood. According to Los Angeles TimesDavid previously oversaw the finances for the twins’ production company Dualstar and made sure they invested their money wisely, including putting more than the legal limit into a girls’ foundation.

David told the newspaper in January 2000 that he was preparing his daughters to take over their business and that he was teaching them about their finances.

“They know they have financial advisors. They understand that their money is invested in stocks as well as in the bank,” he said. “I try to educate them that there is a system that I want them to continue with when they get older. This is extremely important, especially before they turn 18.”

They supported Mary-Kate and Ashley at their Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony

Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen with their dad David, stepmom McKenzie and siblings Jake, Courtney, Elizabeth and Trent as they are honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 29, 2004.

Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

According to 2001 The New York Times profile, Jarnette does not speak to the press or participate in her daughters’ public life, but she was present at their Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in May 2004. The twins were the youngest celebrities to receive the honor at just 17 years old.

The twins’ siblings, Elizabeth and Trent, were also at the ceremony, as were David, his second wife, McKenzie, and their two children, Courtney and Jake.

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Source: HIS Education