Born on 7/28/1968 to a wealthy family in Katowice Poland, Oliwia had two things going for her, even under the Communist regime, privilege and intelligence. Her father, Andrzej Kowalczk was involved in the Zinc mining industry for the Polish state, and after the collapse of the Berlin wall was able to turn that experience into ownership of one of the largest mining consortiums in the city. His wife, Halina Kowalczk, was a quiet woman who secretly practiced her Catholicism despite the rules, and soon gave birth to five children, Feliks, Iwona, Kondrat, Oliwia being 4th, and her younger brother Casmir, who she always got along with, even after her eventual conflict with her father and mother later in her life. Oliwia is an atheist herself, often causing problems with her parents.

She exceled in throughout her High School years, earning a scholarship to attend the Jagiellonian University Medical College after she graduated in 1986. She quickly earned her bachelors in Chemistry. She worked hard and eventually earned her PhD as a medical doctor.

Seeing her country inching towards chaos in the East, she joined the Military Health Service, and soon graduated officer training, being sent to the front as a field surgeon after the Soviet invasion.

She spent most of the late nineties stabilizing the wounded as the world collapsed around her. With the Polish Army essentially disintegrating, she found herself working out of a NATO field hospital, eventually actually becoming part of what was left the American medical apparatus. Her field hospital was overrun outside of Kalisz, with her barely able to make her escape.