You probably remember the face, even if the name Olyvar doesn't immediately ring a bell. In the sprawling, blood-soaked tapestry of Westeros, some characters are dragons and others are just the people trying not to get burned. Will Tudor played Olyvar, a character who managed to be both a fly on the wall and a metaphorical wrench in the gears of the highest powers in King’s Landing. He wasn't a king. He wasn't a knight. Yet, during his run from Season 3 to Season 5, he held the secrets of the Tyrells and the Lannisters in his hands.
Honestly, it’s wild how much influence a squire-turned-spy actually had.
When Will Tudor joined Game of Thrones, he stepped into a role that wasn't just about providing "flavor" to the background of Littlefinger’s brothel. He became the primary vessel for Petyr Baelish’s information gathering. Tudor brought a specific kind of disarming, quiet charisma to Olyvar. He had to. If you’re going to be the guy who seduces the most powerful men in the Seven Kingdoms to steal their secrets, you can’t look like a threat. You have to look like a confidant.
The Man Behind the Seduction: How Will Tudor Became Olyvar
Before he was navigating the treacherous waters of the Red Keep, Will Tudor was a relative newcomer. A graduate of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, he had that polished British theatricality that Game of Thrones craved. But Olyvar wasn't a Shakespearean hero. He was a survivor.
Most people don't realize that Olyvar was actually a composite character of sorts. In George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the logistics of Littlefinger’s spy network are a bit more decentralized. The show needed a face. They needed a recurring presence that the audience could recognize so that when a betrayal happened, it felt personal. Tudor took that responsibility and ran with it. He made Olyvar feel like a person who was always calculating the cost of his next move.
His debut in Season 3, "Kissed by Fire," wasn't just a random scene. It was the introduction of a new variable in the War of the Five Kings. By positioning Olyvar as a squire to Loras Tyrell, the showrunners gave Baelish—and by extension, the audience—a direct line into the vulnerabilities of House Tyrell. It was brilliant. It was messy. It was pure Thrones.
Why the Will Tudor Game of Thrones Performance Actually Mattered
It’s easy to dismiss Olyvar as just another inhabitant of the "sexposition" scenes that defined the early years of the HBO series. That’s a mistake. If you look closer at the narrative arc of Season 5, Olyvar is actually the catalyst for the entire collapse of the status quo in King’s Landing.
Think about the Trial of Loras Tyrell.
💡 You might also like: Is Steven Weber Leaving Chicago Med? What Really Happened With Dean Archer
Cersei Lannister, desperate to reclaim her grip on power and displace Margaery Tyrell, needed a smoking gun. She found it in Olyvar. When Will Tudor’s character testified before the High Sparrow, it wasn't just about "sin" in the eyes of the Faith. It was a political assassination. Olyvar’s testimony—and his specific knowledge of Loras’s birthmark—was the legal lever Cersei used to imprison the Knight of Flowers and, eventually, Queen Margaery herself.
Tudor played that testimony scene with a chilling level of detachment. He wasn't a villain, exactly. He was a tool being used by the Faith and the Crown. He looked scared, but also resigned. That’s the nuance Tudor brought to the role; he understood that Olyvar was just another pawn who knew that in Westeros, you either betray someone else or wait for them to betray you.
The consequences were massive.
- The arrest of Loras Tyrell.
- The subsequent arrest of Margaery for perjury.
- The rise of the Faith Militant.
- The eventual destruction of the Great Sept of Baelor.
Without Olyvar, Cersei might never have found a way to legally dismantle the Tyrell influence. Will Tudor’s character was the domino that started the fall.
Life After Westeros: Will Tudor’s Career Evolution
Once Olyvar’s story reached its natural conclusion—basically disappearing once he was no longer useful to the High Sparrow—Will Tudor didn't just fade away. In fact, his career trajectory post-Thrones is one of the more interesting ones among the supporting cast.
He moved from the grit of King’s Landing to the sleek, futuristic world of Humans. Playing Odi, a malfunctioning "Synth," required a completely different set of skills. While Olyvar was all about subtle human emotion and deception, Odi was about the absence of it—or rather, the ghost of it. It was a masterclass in physical acting.
Then came Shadowhunters.
📖 Related: Is Heroes and Villains Legit? What You Need to Know Before Buying
If you want to see the range we're talking about, look at his portrayal of Sebastian Morgenstern. He went from the quiet spy in Will Tudor's Game of Thrones era to a full-blown, supernatural antagonist with a complex, dark psychological profile. Fans of the Freeform series often cite him as one of the best parts of the show’s later seasons. He has this knack for playing characters who have a secret behind their eyes.
The Reality of Filming Those Intense Scenes
Let’s be real for a second. Game of Thrones was notorious for its nudity and intimate scenes. For a young actor like Tudor, that’s a trial by fire. He’s spoken in various interviews (though he’s quite private) about the professionalism on set.
The show was one of the first major productions to really start standardizing how these scenes were handled, eventually leading to the widespread use of intimacy coordinators. Tudor’s scenes with Finn Jones (Loras Tyrell) were handled with a level of narrative purpose that elevated them above mere shock value. They were about power dynamics. Who has the upper hand? Who is revealing too much?
Tudor’s ability to remain focused on the character’s objectives, even in vulnerable scenes, is why Olyvar felt like a threat even when he was undressed. He was always working. Always listening.
What Most People Get Wrong About Olyvar
There’s this common misconception that Olyvar was a villain because he betrayed the Tyrells.
That’s a bit too simple.
In the world created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, loyalty is a luxury for the rich. Olyvar worked for Petyr Baelish. If Baelish tells you to testify, you testify. If you refuse, you end up like the many bodies at the bottom of the Blackwater. Olyvar was a pragmatist. He saw the way the wind was blowing—away from the Tyrells and toward the religious extremism of the High Sparrow—and he chose survival.
👉 See also: Jack Blocker American Idol Journey: What Most People Get Wrong
It’s also worth noting that Olyvar is one of the few characters who actually "won" in a sense. He didn't die on screen. In a show where main characters are decapitated at weddings or blown up in green fire, simply disappearing into the background is the ultimate victory.
Key Details You Might Have Missed:
- Olyvar actually appears in seven episodes across three seasons.
- He was the one who informed Littlefinger about the Tyrells' plan to marry Sansa Stark to Loras.
- He managed the brothel in Littlefinger’s absence, showing he had significant business trust.
- His final appearance was in "The Gift" (Season 5, Episode 7).
The Legacy of the Small Characters
We spend so much time talking about Jon Snow’s lineage or Daenerys’s dragons that we forget that the world of Westeros is built on the backs of characters like Olyvar. Will Tudor’s performance reminded us that the "smallfolk" and the middle-tier players are the ones who actually facilitate the moves the Great Houses make.
If you’re rewatching the series, keep an eye on him. Watch the way he lingers in the background of scenes in the brothel or the gardens. He’s always watching. He’s the personification of Baelish’s "chaos is a ladder" speech. He was a rung on that ladder, and he played his part perfectly.
How to Follow Will Tudor’s Work Today
If you’re a fan of his work in Game of Thrones, you shouldn't stop there. Tudor has carved out a very specific niche in British and American television.
- Watch "Humans": His performance as Odi is genuinely heartbreaking and technically impressive.
- Check out "Shadowhunters": For a more "leading man" but still villainous vibe.
- Follow the mini-series circuit: He often pops up in high-quality British dramas like The Halcyon or Torvill & Dean, where he played Christopher Dean.
Will Tudor is one of those actors who makes everything he’s in just a little bit better. He doesn't need to chew the scenery. He just needs to be in the room. Whether he’s a squire in King’s Landing or a world-class ice skater, he brings a grounded reality to his roles that makes it impossible to look away.
To truly understand the political shift in the middle seasons of Game of Thrones, you have to understand Olyvar. He wasn't just a side character; he was the witness who brought down a queen. And Will Tudor made sure we believed every second of it.
If you want to dive deeper into the lore, look into the histories of House Tyrell and their downfall. You'll see that while the big names took the credit, it was the quiet ones in the corners who did the real damage. That is the true lesson of Olyvar. Don't watch the person holding the sword; watch the person whispering in the ear of the person holding the sword.
Next time you’re debating who the most dangerous person in King’s Landing was, don't just say Cersei or Varys. Remember the guy who knew about the birthmark. Remember Olyvar.
Check out the Season 5 Blu-ray extras or the "Histories and Lore" features for more context on how the Faith Militant used commoners to dismantle the aristocracy. It adds a whole new layer to Tudor's performance when you see the systemic anger he was tapping into.