Olivia Wilde was born on 10th March 1984 in New York City, New York, USA. Who later adopted her acting surname from playwright Oscar Wilde - was raised in Washington D.C. by her father, Andrew, a former National Geographic reporter and author, and her mother, Leslie, a journalist, author and producer for "60 Minutes" (CBS, 1968- ).
Her sister Chloe was a writer, while her grandfather, James Helvick (a.k.a. Claud Cockburn), and her two uncles, Alexander and Patrick Cockburn, were also journalists. Not interested in the family business, Wilde wanted to do act. After graduating from the Georgetown Day School in D.C.
She landed the lead in her first television series, "Skin" (Fox, 2003), a modern day take on "Romeo and Juliette" in which she played the sultry daughter of an adult film producer (Ron Silver) who falls for the son (D.J. Cotrona) of an anti-porn district attorney (Kevin Anderson).
Following a supporting turn in the mildly received Paul Haggis thriller "The Next Three Days" (2010), Wilde played a denizen of an Old West town beset by a surprising alien invasion in the sci-fi/Western hybrid "Cowboys & Aliens" (2011).