Olga Zharinova

Olga was born in Moscow to a family of teachers: her father is a senior lecturer of mathematics, and her mother is a deputy principle of a Moscow school. Olga's artistic talent showed in her early childhood. Her parents were quite upbeat about their daughter's going to prestigious English language grammar school and a piano school altogether. When a girl, Olga also learnt at and went on Russia-wide tours with the Vdokhnovenie dancing group. She just turned 11, when a prominent Russian avant-garde stage director Vyacheslav Spesivtsev announced a contest for talented boys and girls for his Moscow Youth Theater in Krasnaya Presnya. Having passed all rounds of the contest with flying colors, Olga was admitted to the theater. She liked it so much that after a course in theater art and a certain stage experience she made up her mind to become an actress. However, this time her parents were strongly against, because her father thought that a serious classical education was a must for his daughter. Olga had to obey and joined the National University of Science and Technology where she majored in higher mathematics, but insisted that she would continue her association with the Youth Theater.