Olivia Dunham

Lore & Background

Olivia is a Harvard University-educated FBI Special Agent assigned to a multi-agency task force of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security called the Fringe Division, after her partner and lover, John Scott, is exposed to a biological weapon that causes his skin to become transparent and leaves him in a coma (he later dies). Both Agent Broyles and Nina Sharp consider her to have much potential and talent, the latter even hoping to bring her on as an employee of Massive Dynamic.

An experiment by Dr. Bishop to link her to the dying John Scott's mind to learn what he knew about his condition results in Olivia gaining part of his consciousness, causing her mind to begin integrating and purging the foreign consciousness. Olivia is revealed to be linked to the drug Cortexiphan, a chemical developed by William Bell, which was designed to unlock latent psychic abilities in children. Olivia was one of a group of preschool-age children who served as subjects of the experiment in her childhood home of Jacksonville, Florida.

As a result, Olivia is capable of unspecified psychic abilities, as demonstrated when she shuts off a series of lights in a hallway simply by thinking of it. Walter has a video of Olivia as a child, ostensibly recorded during the drug trials, which shows her curled up in the corner of the room next to a badly charred bed with Walter saying: "It's all right, you didn't mean it." We later learn that Olivia started the fire with her mind. Olivia also could discern if an object originated in the alternate dimension due to a "glimmer" that only she could see.

When trying to reawaken this ability in her as an adult, Dr. Bishop hypothesized that this ability was partially derived from Olivia's fear of seeing into the alternate dimension. When Olivia regains part of her memories of her meeting with Bell, she is told that she is the most successful subject suitable to pass through dimensions without many known negative side-effects, though other subjects (such as Nick Lane) have also crossed over with side effects.

She has been called the guardian of the gateway by Bell, who will prevent the invasion by the alternate dimension. Note: The alternate-universe doppelgänger is sometimes referred to by fans as 'Fauxlivia,' but this nickname is not used in the series itself.

Reader's Guide

After looking at many auditions "well past the 12th hour" for the role of Olivia Dunham, Australian actress Anna Torv was selected for the part. Casting director April Webster commented, "What we were looking for in Olivia was a woman who was believable as an FBI agent but yet had some vulnerability. And definitely had depth and a history behind her eyes." Not having seen Torv before, they came across an audition tape of hers for another movie, and were "immediately intrigued".

Executive producer Bryan Burk later said "there was just something really special about her and really smart". Webster called a friend in Australia, and were able to arrange an audition with Torv, who was camping in the Outback at the time she received the call from her agent. Torv read for a few scenes over the Internet, and was told the following day that she had won the role, embarking for Toronto soon after to begin shooting. One later called her casting "the miracle of the whole thing".