Olivia Trinidad Arias
Encyclopedia
Olivia Trinidad Arias a.k.a. Olivia Harrison, is the widow of George Harrison
, former member of The Beatles
. They were married on September 2, 1978 and had one son together, Dhani Harrison
.
High School
in Southern California and graduated in 1965. She later worked as a secretary at A&M Records
, where George Harrison happened to hold a recording contract. Olivia attended Ringo Starr
and Barbara Bach
's wedding in 1981 without her wedding ring, giving rise to speculation that her marriage to Harrison was a hoax. This was not true: her parents attended their private wedding ceremony at the Henley-on-Thames
Register Office in England. Harrison's brothers at Friar Park
were not invited. Harrison always referred to her by her maiden name, Arias, on all his original albums and even named her "my wife Arias" in a Musician Magazine article, circa 1991.
, Yoko Ono
, and Barbara Bach
, has been involved with the Romanian Angel Appeal since the early 1990s, which has raised millions of dollars to provide aid for children living in devastation. She reveals her concerns for the Romanian orphans
in this quotation (from her appearance on "Wogan
", transmitted 22 June 1990): "It was sort of a gradual assault on my conscience
. It was slowly wearing away at me and I decided that perhaps we should try to raise some money...I went to Romania and was just overwhelmed, devastated and shocked by the situation."
Olivia Harrison produced the Concert For George
in her husband's memory in 2002. The concert at London
's Royal Albert Hall
was sold out and featured many musicians such as Eric Clapton
, Jeff Lynne
, Paul McCartney
, Tom Petty
, Billy Preston
, Ravi Shankar
, Ringo Starr
, and many more, including the first worldwide exposure of her son Dhani. Profits from the event went to the Material World Charitable Foundation, an organization set up by George Harrison. Olivia Harrison received a Grammy Award
in 2005 as a producer for the music video
of the show in the Best Long Form Music Video
category.
press conference with Yoko Ono
, Paul McCartney
and Ringo Starr
to promote the The Beatles: Rock Band
video game.
She was co-producer of Martin Scorsese
's George Harrison: Living in the Material World, sitting for interviews and contributing material to the project and appearing with Scorsese at Cannes in 2010 and in New York City summer, 2011, to promote the documentary. It is scheduled to be shown in the United Kingdom and the United States in October, 2011. Harrison was first convinced to try collaborating with Scorsese after, in 2005, she saw his No Direction Home
documentary about Bob Dylan
. Nigel Sinclair
, the third co-producer of the Harrison project with Scorcese, and Sinclair's company Spitfire Pictures, set up a production team at Friar Park
, the Harrison estate, scanning and digitizing materials Harrison was reluctant to have leave the premises.
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
, former member of The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. They were married on September 2, 1978 and had one son together, Dhani Harrison
Dhani Harrison
Dhani Harrison is an English musician and the son of George Harrison of The Beatles and Olivia Harrison. Harrison debuted as a professional musician when completing his father's final album Brainwashed after George Harrison's death in November 2001...
.
Biography
She is the daughter of dry-cleaner Esiquiel Arias and his wife Mary Louise, who worked as a seamstress. She has brothers named Ron and Gilbert and sisters named Chris and Linda. Olivia attended HawthorneHawthorne, California
Hawthorne is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. The city at the 2010 census had a population of 84,293, up from 84,112 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
High School
Hawthorne High School (Hawthorne, California)
Hawthorne High School is a public high school located in Hawthorne, California, within the Centinela Valley Union High School District. It opened in the mid 1950s and is most notable for its association with The Beach Boys, whose original members Brian, Carl, Dennis Wilson, and Al Jardine attended...
in Southern California and graduated in 1965. She later worked as a secretary at A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
, where George Harrison happened to hold a recording contract. Olivia attended Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
and Barbara Bach
Barbara Bach
Barbara Bach is an American actress and model known as the Bond girl from the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me . She is married to former Beatle Ringo Starr.-Early life:...
's wedding in 1981 without her wedding ring, giving rise to speculation that her marriage to Harrison was a hoax. This was not true: her parents attended their private wedding ceremony at the Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
Register Office in England. Harrison's brothers at Friar Park
Friar Park
Friar Park is the 120-room Victorian neo-Gothic mansion previously owned by the eccentric Sir Frank Crisp in Henley-on-Thames and bought by the musician George Harrison in 1970, as he left his former home Kinfauns, in Esher.-History:...
were not invited. Harrison always referred to her by her maiden name, Arias, on all his original albums and even named her "my wife Arias" in a Musician Magazine article, circa 1991.
Humanitarian work
Olivia, together with Beatles' wives Linda McCartneyLinda McCartney
Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....
, Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
, and Barbara Bach
Barbara Bach
Barbara Bach is an American actress and model known as the Bond girl from the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me . She is married to former Beatle Ringo Starr.-Early life:...
, has been involved with the Romanian Angel Appeal since the early 1990s, which has raised millions of dollars to provide aid for children living in devastation. She reveals her concerns for the Romanian orphans
Romanian orphans
The standard of living for Romanian orphans is still grave despite vast improvements since their conditions were leaked to the West after the fall of the Communist government in 1989...
in this quotation (from her appearance on "Wogan
Wogan
Wogan was a chat show on British television, hosted by Terry Wogan. It followed the format of a series broadcast in 1980 entitled What's On Wogan?, which failed to gather viewers. The Wogan show was initially broadcast on Tuesday evenings on BBC1 in 1981 and from 1982 to 1984, it moved into the...
", transmitted 22 June 1990): "It was sort of a gradual assault on my conscience
Conscience
Conscience is an aptitude, faculty, intuition or judgment of the intellect that distinguishes right from wrong. Moral judgement may derive from values or norms...
. It was slowly wearing away at me and I decided that perhaps we should try to raise some money...I went to Romania and was just overwhelmed, devastated and shocked by the situation."
Olivia Harrison produced the Concert For George
Concert for George
The Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 29 November 2002 as a memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death. The event was organized by Harrison's widow, Olivia, and son, Dhani, and arranged under the musical direction of Eric Clapton and Jeff Lynne...
in her husband's memory in 2002. The concert at London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
was sold out and featured many musicians such as Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Jeff Lynne
Jeff Lynne
Jeffrey "Jeff" Lynne is an English songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer who gained fame as the leader and sole constant member of Electric Light Orchestra and was a co-founder and member of The Traveling Wilburys together with George Harrison, Bob...
, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
, Billy Preston
Billy Preston
William Everett "Billy" Preston was a musician who gained notoriety and fame, first as a session musician for the likes of Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and The Beatles, and later finding fame as a solo artist with hits such as "Space Race", "Will It Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from...
, Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar , often referred to by the title Pandit, is an Indian musician and composer who plays the plucked string instrument sitar. He has been described as the best known contemporary Indian musician by Hans Neuhoff in Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart.Shankar was born in Varanasi and spent...
, Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
, and many more, including the first worldwide exposure of her son Dhani. Profits from the event went to the Material World Charitable Foundation, an organization set up by George Harrison. Olivia Harrison received a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in 2005 as a producer for the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
of the show in the Best Long Form Music Video
Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video
The Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video is an accolade presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally named the Gramophone Awards, to performers, directors, and producers of quality videos or musical programs...
category.
Beatles and George Harrison legacy
Harrison appeared on-stage at Microsoft's June 1, 2009, E3Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009
The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009, commonly known as the E3 2009, was the 15th Electronic Entertainment Expo held. The event took place on June 2, 3, and 4 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. E3 is an annual trade show for the computer and video games industry presented by the Entertainment...
press conference with Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...
to promote the The Beatles: Rock Band
The Beatles: Rock Band
The Beatles: Rock Band is a 2009 music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the third major console release in the Rock Band music video game series, in which players can simulate the playing of rock music by using...
video game.
She was co-producer of Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's George Harrison: Living in the Material World, sitting for interviews and contributing material to the project and appearing with Scorsese at Cannes in 2010 and in New York City summer, 2011, to promote the documentary. It is scheduled to be shown in the United Kingdom and the United States in October, 2011. Harrison was first convinced to try collaborating with Scorsese after, in 2005, she saw his No Direction Home
No Direction Home
No Direction Home is a documentary film by Martin Scorsese that traces the life of Bob Dylan, and his impact on 20th century American popular music and culture. The film does not cover Dylan's entire career; it concentrates on the period between Dylan's arrival in New York in January 1961 and his...
documentary about Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. Nigel Sinclair
Nigel Sinclair
Nigel Sinclair CBE is a Scottish producer of Hollywood films.-Early life:He was born in Dumfries and graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1969. He practiced law until he moved to Los Angeles in 1980 and married Patricia Sinclair...
, the third co-producer of the Harrison project with Scorcese, and Sinclair's company Spitfire Pictures, set up a production team at Friar Park
Friar Park
Friar Park is the 120-room Victorian neo-Gothic mansion previously owned by the eccentric Sir Frank Crisp in Henley-on-Thames and bought by the musician George Harrison in 1970, as he left his former home Kinfauns, in Esher.-History:...
, the Harrison estate, scanning and digitizing materials Harrison was reluctant to have leave the premises.