Career
She played Mistress Violet Clegg in the short-lived series, First of the Summer Wine and she became a more familiar television face after starring in The House of Eliott, as Florence Ranby, a dour victorian and head of the Eliott workroom, who died in a tragic road accident outside the Eliott"s fashion house. She featured as Martha in the Andrew Davies adaptation of Trollope"s classic He Knew He Was Right. Her many other television credits include leading roles in Lovejoy, Coronation Street, Heartbeat, Holby City, One Foot In The Grave, Seaview, Teachers, Victoria Wood - As Seen On television, The Hunt Foreign The Yorkshire Ripper, Midsomer Murders and Wire In The Blood.
Her film credits include Britannia Hospital, A Private Function, Pierrepoint and most recently Steven Spielberg"s War Horse.
Her one-woman show Yours Sincerely, a musical play about Dame Vera Lynn has played in the United Kingdom and abroad. Since 2014, Ollerenshaw has provided the voice of Henrietta (United Kingdom/United States) in the British television series Thomas & Friends.
She received a British Academy of Film and Television Arts best comedy performance nomination for playing Ethel in an episode of Last Of The Summer Wine. She was nominated as Best Supporting Actress for her role in Screamers at the Warehouse Theatre.