Kara Dooley is an alum of the University of Miami, which is where she met Greg Olsen in 2003 shortly after he transferred from the University of Notre Dame. Their relationship started out a friendship before evolving into something more. Dating an athlete made for an atypical college experience, but Dooley didn’t care. “When everybody wanted to go out, and her girlfriends and sorority sisters wanted to go out, she would stay home with me because I had things I had to do bright and early,” Olsen told Charlotte Magazine in 2016.
That meant that Olsen and Dooley often had only each other for support. “She understood the sacrifice that came with what I did and she was always a great supporter,” he said. And they believe that made them stronger as a couple. “In his moments of weakness, I try to step in. In my moments of weakness, he’s always done a good job of stepping in,” she told The Charlotte Observer in 2019. After becoming a mother in 2011, when they welcomed their oldest son, Tate, Dooley made her family her focus.
Dooley doesn’t update her Instagram often, but when she does it’s either to show off her children, share support for her husband, or to promote the work of The Heartest Yard. Her role and dedication haven’t gone unnoticed. “Happy Mothers day to the center of our worlds! Love and appreciate you,” Olsen captioned a May 2023 Instagram post.
