Get to know more about her backstory in football with our picks of the information below.

Upbringing

Growing up, Smith looked up to the likes of Ronaldinho, Marta, Neymar and Canada Women legend Christine Sinclair.

She started playing football at the age of three and, at 15, Smith became the youngest player ever to make a senior debut for Canada. That came against Brazil, meaning she was sharing the pitch with her idol Marta!

Smith’s parents used to prepare Marta highlights for her to watch in the car on their way to games.

One of Smith’s previous coaches, Kenneth Heiner-Moller, who was manager at Canada from 2018 to 2020, said:  "She can already perform at a level that's beyond what you could think a kid her age could actually do. So it's about taking very, very good care of her, but also pushing her.

“In the world of sports, you can find so many very, very good players at the age of 14 or 15 that didn’t make it because either they took it too lightly or had bad advice or whatever. But I can tell you she wasn't given any internationals. She earned them, and if you can earn them by the time you’re 15, you’ve got hopefully a pretty good future ahead of you.”

Olivia’s father, reflecting on when she was just five years old, said: “You could see the progression. I enrolled her in a House League and coached the team and I worked with her daily on drills in a nearby park after I was laid off by General Motors.

“This girl was like a sponge soaking up everything and it got to the point where I realised there was only so much that I could do for her and I had to put her in the hands of an experienced coach who we could trust to take her to the next level. That’s when I called a friend who I knew was heavily involved in the sport and asked him to train her. She was about five then and I noticed that, in addition to her love for the sport, her left foot shot was hard and accurate.”

A coveted player

Smith has made such an impression already in her young career that she’s received plenty of awards and nominations.

In her debut Women’s Super League campaign last season with Liverpool, she was nominated for the Professional Game Association’s Player of the Season and Rising Star awards.

During 2024/25, she scored Liverpool’s first-ever WSL goal at Anfield, against Manchester City.

Prior to her move to England, Smith had quickly made an impact at Sporting CP, being named Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year in the Portuguese top-flight.

She was also the 2019 Canadian Youth International Player of the Year, and won the Young Player Award at the 2024 CONCACAF W Gold Cup.

Canada’s Young Player of the Year for 2024, Smith had also played for North Toronto Nitros in 2022, where she won Young Player of the Season, Forward of the Year and the Golden Boot with 18 goals in 11 appearances.

Other interests

It’s not just about football for Smith though, who did taekwondo for three years and has also played volleyball, basketball and other sports at school.

She said in a previous interview that, if she wasn’t a footballer, she’d be a photographer or videographer, so we’ll keep that in mind!

Familiar faces

In her first club interview with us, Smith spoke about how hard it is playing at Emirates Stadium as an opponent, and how much she’s looking forward to being on our side with our support behind her from now on.

After that match, she named Leah Williamson in her WSL five-a-side team, as she said our centre-back gave her a “super tough time.”

Smith is also familiar with Jenna Nighswonger, who mentored her at Florida State University, as well as Taylor Hinds, who she recently played with at Liverpool.