Olsen made her literary debut in 2000 and has since published eight collections of poetry in addition to several dramatic texts and libretti for operas, such as Danish composer Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen’s Sol går op, sol går ned and composer Peter Bruun’s Miki Alone, which was awarded the Nordic Council Music Prize in 2008. Olsen has received numerous grants and prizes for her work, including the prestigious award Montanaprisen for Det 3. årtusindes hjerte (Third-Millennium Heart).