According to Troy Rothko, Olya often referred to Edgar as “his eminence” behind closed doors.
Olya Palinski admits the most responsibility within the Hammet cult, claiming second only to Edgar Hammet himself. After connecting with Edgar early on, Olya helped Edgar establish this world and cult. She viewed Edgar’s world as superlative and couldn’t be convinced otherwise. Born and raised in Moscow, Russia, Olya emigrated to Canada at the age of 18 with her parents and sisters.
Having been enamoured by the look of Gothic make up and outfits, as a teenager Miss Palinski decided this would be the image she’d present herself in. She began down a path of whitening her skin, concealing tattoos of death-like images and alienating herself from her friends and family.
Although her immediate family accepted her in whatever she chose to do or dress as, Olya decided to leave her comfort zone of a life with them, moving out in her mid-teens. They have always maintained that they love her and wish to rehabilitate and re-involve her in the Palinski family, but she declines and keeps to herself. She has no interest in what she refers to as, “Normal boring life.”
As a young adult, Olya focused heavily on blood donation and testing after she had left school. Her first jobs were at donation clinics where she would routinely steal supplies in order to test blood outside of her workplace. Her focus on biology and from the outside, her apparent aspirations on getting into medicine helped shape her niche within Edgar’s circle.