Rob McElhenney wife: who is Wrexham co-owner married to, when did he meet Kaitlin Olson, do they have children

Rob McElhenney made headlines in 2021 when he teamed up with fellow actor Ryan Reynolds to buy Wrexham FC.

The move sparked interest around the world, with the pair recently starring in Disney Plus documentary ‘Welcome To Wrexham’ which explored how and why the two Americans decided to buy a fifth-tier team in the English Football League.

Before his venture into football, McElhenney was best known for his role as Ronald ‘Mac’ McDonald in the hit comedy series ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.’ It was here where he met his wife, Kaitlin Olson, after she was hired to play Dee Reynolds.

Olson is also probably most recognised for her part in the sitcom, but has also had recurring roles in smash hits such as ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm,’ where she played “Becky”, Larry’s sister-in-law, in addition to notable guest starring roles on series like ‘Out of Practice’ and ‘Miss Match’.

With that being said, here’s everything you need to know about Kaitlin Olson - including her career and family life, as well as stories from when and how she met her husband McElhenney.

Who is Kaitlin Olson?

Kaitlin Olson is an American actress. She was born in Portland, Oregon on 18 August, 1975.

Olson had long had a passion for acting - and chose to pursue it at the University of Oregon, where she got her Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts. She then moved to Los Angeles to follow her dream of acting professionally, securing a spot at The Groundlings Theatre in Hollywood, which has been the training ground for comic greats such as Will Ferrell, Melissa McCarthy and Lisa Kudrow.

What has her career been like?

Olson starred in the Sunday Company at The Groundlings, which was a weekly comedy sketch show put on by alumni. She secured her first acting role in 199 in The Drew Carey Show, where she played “Traylor”. This led to her joining Drew Carey and several cast members of ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’ on a United Service Organisations (USO) tour, where they performed improv shows for US troops in Bosnia, Kosovo and Norway.

Olson later had a minor role in ‘Coyote Ugly’, and also went on to guest star in several other shows, including but not limited to:

• The Jamie Kennedy Experiment
• Out of Practice
• Miss Match
• Family Guy
• Punk’d

She is perhaps best known for her role on breakout sitcom, ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’, which she was cast for in 2004. Subsequently, she appeared in 2013 comedy film ‘The Heat’, alongside Melissa McCarthy; played a recurring role as Hartley Underwood in ‘The Riches’, and starred in Fox’s ‘The Mick’, which premiered in 2017.

Olson has also been involved in animated projects, providing the voice of Destiny in Disney‘s ‘Finding Dory’ as well as the voice of Ethel in the first season of the Comedy Central’s ‘Brickleberry.’

How did she meet Rob McElhenney?

Olson met McElhenney on set of ‘It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’. McElhenney has previously said he became romantically interested in her “around Season 2”, of the series, and has labelled her “the funniest woman in showbusiness.”

The pair began dating in 2006, and a year later, McElhenney proposed at Danny DeVito’s beach house in Malibu. They tied the knot on 28 September, 2008.

The two have spoken about their love story a fair bit in the past. Chatting to Buzzfeed in 2015, McElhenney said: “Literally, the stupidest thing you can do in the entertainment industry is start dating your co-star on a television series that’s expected to continue. Potentially, we could’ve ruined the dynamic of the TV series, but we jumped in anyway. I guess because I started to fall in love with her.”

He also previously revealed via a sweet throwback post on Instagram in 2020 that he had had eyes on Olson even before the two met. He shared a picture of her on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’, writing: “I remember watching an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2002—before I even moved to L.A. - and seeing this woman playing Larry’s sister-in-law. I thought she was so funny and so beautiful and so out of my league. Well, it’s eighteen years later and tonight I get to hold her hand, watch her on another episode, and be reminded of all of those things again. What a lucky person I am.”

Olson, for her part, told Metro in 2013 that sharing the screen with her husband for so long on ‘It’s Always Sunny’ was “awesome,” telling the newspaper: “He’s my favorite person.” The series only ended in 2021, after sixteen years on air.

Do they have kids?

Olson and McElhenney have two sons named Axel Lee McElhenney and Leo Grey McElhenney. Axel was born on September 1, 2010, and Leo was born April 5, 2012.