Biography of Brooke Olzendam [Age, Height, Wife, Kids, Family, Salary, Award & Net worth ]

At times, life is unpredictable and gets more bitter than it could ever be. Brooke Olzendam (best known as Brooke Collins) suffered and struggled with the same share of pain during her journey.

HOWEVER, SHE HAS STOOD FIRM ALL ALONG. CURRENTLY, BROOKE IS AN ACCOMPLISHED SPORTSCASTER AND A SIDELINE REPORTER.

Throughout her journey, she has hosted numerous events of football, horse racing, baseball, and many more.

Today, we will discuss her life in detail, and along the way, we will trail down her work and family.

But first, let us get through the quick dose of here facts.

Quick Facts

Body Measurements

Brooke Olzendam is a gorgeous lady with deep dark brown hair and eyes of similar color. Well, she stands at a stunning height of 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 meters) while weighing at around 50 kg (110 lbs).

Brooke Olzendam | Early Life and Education

Brooke Olzendam was born on August 12, 1981, under the star sign of Leo in Spokane, Washington, United States. Although there is no disclosed information about her siblings, she is the daughter of Alison Olzendam and Dave Olzendam.

Talking about her familial background, her father Dave worked as the coach of Medical Lake between 1982 to 2004. As a matter of fact, Dave Olzendam has coached over 430 games during his 31 long seasons.

Altogether, he is also the inductee at the Washington Interscholastic Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Hence, Brooke grew up mainly in the gym, watching her father train others.

As per Brooke, she grew up as a tomboy till ninth grade, and she had always loved playing basketball.

So often, when girls grew up with bedroom posters of Brad Pitt and Justin Timberlake, Brooke had David Robinson, Reggie Miller, and Gary Payton.

As for her education, Brooke Olzendam attended the Shadle Park High School in her native place Spokane, Washington. Following it, she enrolled in the Edward R. Murrow School of Communications.

This particular school is at Washington State University, from where she graduated in the year 2003.

Brooke Olzendam | Career

Since years ahead, Brooke Olzendam commenced on the field as a sideline reporter. She initially worked and covered for the Washington Huskies as the host of Huskies All-Access.

During the tenure, she worked to cover for Huskies football and basketball while at the same time, she served as a host of Runnin’ with the Pac.

Today, Brooke is a pregame/halftime/postgame host for Portland Trail Blazers telecasts. In the meantime, she also works for the Pac-12 Network, where she does football sideline reporting.

Right after it, Brooke became the primetime football sideline reporter while covering the CBS College Sports Network. Then, after two seasons in there, she joined the Pacers.

Later, she worked to cover for the Portland Trail Blazers as a pregame/halftime/postgame host.

Alongside it, Brooke starred covered professional games ranging from baseball to horse racing for the Comcast SportsNet Northwest (now NBC Sports Northwest).

Before that, Brooke Olzendam was a part of Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket as a sideline reported for the UCLA Bruins football telecasts.

Brooke Olzendam | Net Worth

At present, Brooke Olzendam maintains a career net worth of $1.2 million. Apart from her career as a reporter, Brooke also earns a hefty amount from her brand endorsement deals.

Social Media

If you are interested in Brooke Olzendam’s personal uploads and posts, check out her social media pages. She is on Instagram as Brooke Olzendam (@bolzendam) with 17.8k followers.

Likewise, she is on Twitter as Brooke Olzendam (@brookeolzendam), with 27k followers. Similarly, she has her Twitter handle as Brooke Olzendam (Collins), with 372 connections.

Brooke Olzendam | Personal Life

Often one has to grow through loads of bruises over the course of life. Well, as in Brooke’s case, she struggles with a deep hole in her heart that may be healed, but the scars will haunt her for the rest of her life.

At present, Brooke Olzendam is married to Josh Bennett and maintains a beautiful family of four. She has been moving forward firmly as a mother, loving wife, and an accomplished reporter.

As a matter of fact, Brooke met Josh through her mother’s friend during her tenure in Indiana in 2014. It was years after the death of her first husband, Andy Collins when her mother’s friend wanted her to meet him.

At first, she had declined the offer; however, something in her stirred that wanted to go out and meet him. After their meeting, they exchanged emails and contact numbers.

Eventually, they clicked with each other, and today, they have two beautiful children together. To elaborate, they have a son named Theo (born in 2015) and a daughter named Amara (born in 2018).

Brooke Olzendam and Andy Collins

Well, Brooke Olzendam met Andy Collins for the first time during his years in Southern California. Back then, she was working in television and often commuted to Portland to host the “Talkin’ Ball” show.

Not long after, the duo dated each other, and Collins was at the University of Oregon as a quarterback.

Then, nearly after a year of their relationship, the duo took vows in 2011. The two married in Seattle and later flew to live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Looking back, the duo met one night where they both happened to be at Nikki Beach, a bar in Venice. As a fun fact, they both had no intention to be out that day, but Brooke was out because of her friend who wanted to roam around L.A. while Andy was there to make sure his friend got a ride.

Anyways, the duo saw each other for the first and clicked right instant. Then, as they commenced talking and sharing their mutual interest in sports, they clicked and later shared a ride back to Andy’s home. Following it, they exchanged numbers.

As a matter of fact, the duo clicked and got together only after a few intense days. Hence, Andy Collins made a move and proposed Brooke on Valentine’s Day in San Francisco.

Herewith, their wedding ceremony was organized in the presence of over 300 guests, but they didn’t have a proper honeymoon as Brooke had her works to accomplish.

However, the two had started to have their official honeymoon on one of the islands off the Florida Keys.

Andy’s Sudden Death

In August 2011, Brooke Olzendam and Andy Collins stayed at a hotel after returning from their house hunt. During that time, Andy was working out while Brook stayed in to iron the clothes.

After her ironing chore was complete, she went downstairs to look for Andy after several failed calls.

Not long after it, she saw the fire truck and paramedics rushing over for help, and when she couldn’t see him, she went back to the room.

Then, she got a call from one of the EMTs who stated that Andy had lost consciousness while on the treadmill. As she rushed in, a nurse was trying to resuscitate him as the ambulance arrived.

Though no one said a word to her, broke felt a chill run through her spine as she figured out that something was going terribly wrong.

“Then there was a priest giving him his last rites. I just kept saying, ‘Please, come back.’ I was holding his hand when they said he was gone.”
-Brooke Olzendam

Altogether, they revealed that Andy Collins had a fatal heart attack. Even his autopsy report portrayed that Andy had arteries near his heart smaller than average, which was the root cause of his fatal death.

Funeral and Afterwards

A week after the incident, they held the funeral in Andy’s hometown of Zillah, Wash. In fact, what was more heart-wrenching was that the duo was only married for ten days back then.

Indeed, this incident left Brooke Olzendam in despair, and she fell close to not returning back to work. Well, she stayed in bed for weeks and didn’t even glance at her wedding pictures.

During that time, Brooke’s mother helped her to return all the wedding gifts. Almost after seventeen days of panic and breakdown, she returned to the field, and only this time, she feel calm that she had never felt before.

Brief Glance on Andy Collins

Andy Collins was the three-time Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference offensive player of the year in the Occidental College. Initially, he was a transfer from the University of Oregon who played from 2004 to 2006.

Additionally, he also represented the United States in the Aztec Bowl. Throughout his years, Andy had played for the New York Giants in the Arena Football League, including stints with the Los Angeles Avengers and Colorado Crush.

Some of the tributes for Andy Collins are as below.

“This hurts. It’s so sad. He was the consummate leader on the field. We were proud of the way he represented the team and Stockton, and our hearts go out to his family.”
-Dan Chapman, former president of the Lightning

“It’s tough for me to get a grip on this. I can’t imagine what his wife and family are feeling. Andy is just one of those dudes you want to be around.”
-Chad Cavender, a former Lightning quarterback

“The fact that I got to be his wife, that was a no-brainer. I’m proud to have been married to him for those ten sh0ort days. I will take that over, never meeting him in a heartbeat. No matter what happens, I’ll always be Brooke Collins.”
-Brooke Olzendam

In the Remembrance of Andy Collins

Altogether, Brooke Olzendam commenced a new campaign in honor of her late husband to raise awareness about the importance of AEDs and heart health. As she lifted the campaign, the Portland Trail Blazers raised $5,000.

Furthermore, she stated that she wished to raise awareness regarding heart problems through her story. Therefore, this campaign kicked off as “Brooke Hearts Your Heart.”

Brooke Olzendam | FAQs

What did Andy Collins use to call Brooke Olzendam?

Andy Collins used to call Brooke Olzendam “IG” as in Instant Gratification.