Olivia Harlan, now known as Olivia Dekker, joined ESPN in 2015, but her professional career began as soon as she graduated. The sportscaster is, however, known mainly for being associated with famous people; her father has been an announcer for years while her husband is a renowned basketball player. Still, she remains down to earth and talks about her life whenever she can. So here is everything we have learned from her many interviews.
1. She is philanthropic
Olivia is charitable and has been volunteering since 2014 at the Children’s Cancer Family Foundation (CCFF), where she knows most of the members by name. She and her husband felt it was essential to support the noble cause of the non-profit organization even on their wedding day. Therefore they asked their guest to donate money to CCFF and set up a website whose goal was to raise $15,000. However, after raising $1,500 in less than 24 hours, they increased the target to $50,000 and ended up raising $65,000.
2. She kept her wedding dress hidden from all family members except her mother
When Olivia’s sister was getting married, she kept her wedding dress a secret between her and her mother. Later on, when the entire family, including Olivia, saw her sister on her wedding day, it was such a special moment, and Olivia thought about replicating it on her wedding day. Consequently, the only person she allowed to see her in her wedding dress before the big day was Ann Harlan, her mother. However, the family still got to see her before Sam, and it meant a lot to Olivia to share that moment with them as she told Green Bay Press Magazine.
3. She never cared much about her wedding dress
Had you asked little Olivia about her dream wedding gown, she would not have given you a straight answer because she did not think about it that much. However, one thing she had detailed out was the wedding venue. Olivia had spent most of her childhood at Door County, and it helped her bond with her three siblings, who are her best friends to date. Therefore it was without a doubt that Door County would also help create another cherished memory: her wedding.
4. Her father had warned her to never date an athlete
It would be a great concern for a father to learn that his daughter is getting married to an athlete, considering the past of most athletes. People like LeBron James and Brandon Marshall have not made a good case for athletes due to their philandering ways. Olivia’s father, Kevin Harlan, was not ready to have his daughter’s heartbroken by what he thought was inevitable; therefore, to him, the cardinal sin would be to have Olivia dating an athlete.
5. She kept her relationship with Sam a secret for three months
Considering her father’s reservations about dating athletes, when Olivia’s friend told her about an athlete who was different from the rest, she was curious. The sportscaster admits she only agreed to go out with Sam because her friend made him sound like a dream come true. After meeting him, she still wanted the relationship to grow organically without any hype from third parties. Therefore she did not tell her sister directly that she was dating Sam, but her description gave her away. For three months, Olivia did not make any posts revealing her relationship.
6. Her wedding had a unique theme
After eight months of dating, Sam proposed, and since Olivia agreed that they were meant for each other, she said yes and immediately started planning the wedding. According to The Knot News, every detail had to reflect them as a couple. Since they are frequent travelers by air, their seating cards resembled airplane tickets, whereas tables were named as per the cities Sam and Olivia had traveled to as opposed to numbers. They also layered sand in a vase to represent Sheboygan where Sam is from, Door County where Olivia is from, and Israel, where they had gone a year before the wedding.
7. She and her boyfriend have a rule
Before Olivia met Sam, she was not interested in having any romantic relationship; her time and energy were invested in her work. Fortunately, at the time they met, Sam was also determined to have a successful basketball career; therefore, they each understood that they might not have enough time to spend together. Still, being in a relationship means making sacrifices. Consequently, they came up with a rule; regardless of where they are or how busy their schedule is, they would not allow two weeks to pass without seeing each other.
8. How she maintains her health
Traveling a lot usually has her drinking lots of unhealthy beverages. However, Olivia makes up for that by ensuring that she eats a green salad and protein. She also packs some supplements when traveling.
9. Her first interview was a defining moment
Most people will get a job by dropping the name of their parents, but despite Olivia’s father being a renowned American announcer, she wanted to get a job based on her competence. Therefore when she went in to interview with Fox Sports South and began talking about her experience in sports due to her father’s job, the interview was curious to know who her father was. He said he knew her father but did not know that Olivia was the daughter. At that point, Olivia was glad that she had landed the interview on her merit, and it helped set the pace for her career.
10. She and her father made history in 2018
Kevin Harlan could not hide his joy when he made a statement that he would be working side by side with his daughter, Olivia. As published on Yahoo, the two would broadcast an NFL show and go down in history as the first-ever father-daughter duo to do so. Kevin especially loved that it would be where Olivia played as a little girl and where her grandfather, for over twenty years, ran the Green Bay Packers.
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