OLIVIA, born Olivia Lufkin, was born in Okinawa to a Japanese mother and American father and is the oldest of three children. During the early years of her life, OLIVIA and her family frequently moved around between Japan and America. Despite having to attend many schools, OLIVIA found the time to take piano, guitar and vocal lessons and still focus on her studies. OLIVIA worked really hard and her talent flourished in her freshman and sophomore years, during which she was selected for a special jazz singing group in her school.
On top of her regular schooling, she also attended Okinawa Actors School which has produced many top artists such as Namie Amuro, Speed and MAX. The school gave OLIVIA her first chance to perform in front of a large audience and in 1996, she was spotted by the bosses of Rising Productions. They asked OLIVIA to become part of their new pop group D&D (Dance & Dream) alongside two other girls, Aya and Chikano and she accepted. D&D released their first single In Your Eyes on August 21, 1996 and it was a huge success.
OLIVIA got her next break in 1998. Tetsuya "TK" Komuro and French composer Jean-Michel Jarre were collaborating on a song for the France '98 FIFA World Cup and they needed a vocalist for it. TK asked OLIVIA to sing as he felt she had the right type of voice, which he described as "angelic with a rock sound." The song Together Now was released as a maxi-single on April 22, 1998.
Despite her successes of 1998, the year also brought the dissolution of D&D. After five hit singles with the group,OLIVIA left to pursue a solo career with her brother Jeffrey as her support guitarist. OLIVIA's fans had grown used to hearing her sing pop tunes but with the release of her first solo single I.L.Y. ~yokubou~, she surprised everyone with her powerful rock vocals and sound. It was very well accepted and left her fans wanting more.
Over the next two years, activity for OLIVIA was nonstop. She released four more singles, all of which received excellent reviews. Perhaps the one single that earned her the most recognition is Dear Angel, which she composed herself. On her Dekinai single, Shinya from LUNA SEA played drums on all the tracks.
During this time, OLIVIA also made several appearances on popular music shows such as "Heyx3," "Utaban" and "Music Station" as well as in magazines and cosmetic commercials. After the release of her sixth single Color of Your Spoon, she started her own radio show on Tokyo's InterFm. "H.I.S. World Trax" which temporarily broadcasted every Friday.
OLIVIA performed her first live on October 16, 2000 at Osaka Muse. Her debut album Synchronicity was finally released on December 6. After a year, OLIVIA released the single Sea me and seemed to disappear from the music scene for a while. She returned in 2002 with the release of a PV DVD entitled Video Clips. In addition, she released the single Into the stars on September 4th.
In 2003, OLIVIA released the albums MERRY & HELL GO ROUND, Comatose Bunny Butcher and The Return of the Chlorophyll Bunny. By the next year, The Lost Loli hit record stores, soaring to the top of the Tower Record charts.
After a long period without releases, OLIVIA joined Anna Tsuchiya in performing music for the anime version of "NANA" in 2006. OLIVIA was casted as the singing voice for the character Reira Serizawa. Performing under the name OLIVIA inspi' REIRA (TRAPNEST) she saw the release of a self-titled album and a single promoting the music created for "NANA." In October of the same year, OLIVIA flew to the US, successfully making her American debut at California's anime convention Pacific Media Expo.
The next two years were extremely busy for OLIVIA. In July of 2007, she she jetted to Paris, performing a solo concert and appearing at the Japan Expo. By September of the following year, OLIVIA released Trinka Trinka and wrapped up the year performing a duo showcase with INORAN on December 30th. In April of 2009, OLIVIA reunited with the popular singer, and they released the collaborative single Sailing Free, which was later used as the theme song to the game "Sengoku Basara Battle Heroes."
2010 was a very quiet year for OLIVIA, with her first activity in Germany at Connichi Anime Convention in September. One month later, she released a greatest hits album. When rumors of OLIVIA's retirement from the music scene surfaced, the singer quickly squashed them, announcing that new material would be forthcoming in the new year.
OLIVIA recently announced she is scheduled to perform at Uppcon in Sweden in June, 2011.
