About Debra

Debra Olson-Tolar is an accomplished storyteller and actor.  She was the first storyteller asked to join the J. Paul Getty Museum’s initiative to pair original story with pieces from their permanent art collection.  She has shared her stories and taught storytelling workshops at the Los Angeles Storytelling Festival, Texas Storytelling Festival, and the National Storytelling Conference, as well as at women’s retreats, schools, and libraries.  Her CD, The Stars in the Sky, contains several of her favorite folktales.

As an actor, Debra has appeared both on stage and on film.  One review of her turn at Amanda Wingfield in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie noted that “nobody can steal the limelight away from Tolar. . . . She effortlessly evokes the time and place (1940s St. Louis) with the simplest of gestures.”  In productions of The Vagina Monologues she has stopped the show with her comedic timing.  The independent feature film in which she recently co-starred, Halfway, is currently in post-production.

Debra’s background includes a B.A. degree in Acting, an M.A. in Communication (both from the University of Northern Colorado) and a Ph.D. (from the University of Denver) in Speech Communication. She was a Professor of Communication Studies at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, CA, for 19 years, where she taught “The Art of Storytelling” and “Studies in Storytelling.”

Visit Debra’s storytelling website and her blog, “My Story: Reflections and Ramblings from Storyteller/Actor Debra Olson-Tolar,” for more information.