Olivia Dunham is a fictional character and the main protagonist from the science fiction television series Fringe, which aired on the Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States from 2008 to 2013. The character was created by series' co-creator J. J. Abrams, and is portrayed by actress Anna Torv. Olivia is the series' protagonist, and was introduced as an FBI Special Agent, working for a multi-agency task force of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security called the Fringe Division, dealing with supernatural events that are linked to experimental occurrences. Having grown up with an abusive stepfather, Olivia struggles with the unexpected changes in her life, following her encounter with mentally unstable scientist Walter Bishop, and his son and an eventual love interest for her, Peter Bishop.

The character of Olivia has been described as "an incredibly driven, incredibly brilliant agent with her own complicated past that will be peel[ed] back over time." She is a loner and dedicates almost all of her time to her work. She has a strong sense of justice, which drives her to solve a case by any means necessary. It is this quality which both impresses and irritates Broyles, as it makes her a good agent but also makes her prone to biting off more than she can chew when it comes to pursuing suspects. Olivia had an abusive stepfather, and shot him several times in defense of her mother and herself. She was unable to finish him off, and so he recovered and disappeared, leaving her to blame herself for not exacting retribution against him, contributing to her determination to bring criminals to justice. She was nine years old when she shot her stepfather, and she states in an earlier episode that she knew what she wanted to do for a career "pretty much since [she] was nine", indicating a direct link between the childhood abuse and her job.  In the reset timeline for the series' fourth season, Torv explained that "The Olivia we meet and know has known about Fringe Division and had all this time to get used to it and work out that this is her life," rather than becoming familiar with it after the attack on John Scott. Consequently, "when Lincoln comes in, she's a little more open to him [than she was with Peter] and working with someone again."  Olivia has few close relationships. She has little family, as her mother died when she was in her early teenage years. Olivia's is close to her sister Rachel, and Rachel's daughter Ella. Olivia was involved in a serious relationship with fellow FBI agent John Scott, and his supposed betrayal and death was something she dealt with for much of the first season. In the second season finale, Olivia and Peter Bishop finally admit their feelings for each other and kiss. Fauxlivia was involved in a serious relationship with Frank Stanton and eventually became engaged, but the two broke up when he discovered she was pregnant by Peter. Olivia was in a relationship with Peter after they mended things in episode 6B But shortly after that Peter built a bridge wiping himself from existence, causing Olivia to forget who he was. But through the cortexiphan and the power of their love, she soon remembered her life with him. They were married and have a daughter. In episodes 4.19 Letters of Transit and 5.1 Transilience Thought Unifier Model-11, their daughter finds them and reunites them.

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