He made his first public appearance, in a TV poetry programme, at the age of 16. Two years later he made his film debut and soon afterwards, as a first-year drama school student, he was picked by director Andrzej Wajda for the lead in the screen adaptation of Stefan Żeromski’s novel ‘The Ashes’.
It was the beginning of a long-lasting collaboration with Wajda, which included such masterpieces as ‘The Wedding’, ‘The Promised Land’, and ‘The Maids of Wilko’.
Olbrychski also worked closely with many other prominent Polish and foreign directors, including Krzysztof Zanussi, Volker Schlöndorff, Claude Lelouch and Nikita Michalkov, appearing alongside such stars as Burt Lancaster, Simone Signoret, Michel Piccoli, Isabelle Hupert, Marina Vlady, Leslie Caron, and Angelina Jolie.
Olbrychski also developed a fine career in theatre and TV drama, his major roles including Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello.
His many distinctions include the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Reborn Poland, the French Legion of Honour, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, an honorary doctor’s degree from the University of Opole, southern Poland, and honorary citizenships of Warsaw and Opole.
A media celebrity, Olbrychski often made headlines for reasons other than his acting career. Five years ago he lost his driving licence for drink driving and in 2000 he used a sword to destroy Polish artist Piotr Uklański’s photo collage ‘Naziści’, which showed stills from Polish films with actors dressed in Nazi uniforms. Olbrychski was one of the actors featured.
Olbrychski is an outspoken critic of Poland’s conservative government.
(mk/pk)