Joe Olivieri is Head of Acting in the Department of Theater at UCLA. Before joining the faculty at UCLA, he was Head of the MFA and BFA Acting Programs at West Virginia University. He is a member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors’ Equity Association (AEA). Joe recently appeared in the world premiere stage adaptation of It’s A Wonderful Lifeat West Virginia Public Theatre, where also played the role of Greg in the 2017 WVPT production of A.R. Gurney’s Sylvia.  Other regional theatre credits include Denver Center Theater, PCPA Theaterfest, San Jose Repertory Company, Pittsburgh’s City Theater, Carnegie Mellon Showcase of New Plays, and the American Conservatory Theater, where he received an MFA in Acting. He is a founding member of Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice, California, where he acts and has directed several award-winning productions. Joe is the author of Shakespeare without Fear: A User-Friendly Guide to Acting Shakespeare, and FLIXACTING: Illustrating Acting Skills through Film Performance, a media-rich e-Book. Joe is the proud father of Luca and Tessa Olivieri.