Olivia Noelle Eskens Forever Part of Life Itself

In honor of a life and love that helped shape what we’re building.

Olivia was Callan’s partner, love, and closest companion. When she passed away on February 12, 2023, at the age of 25, the loss reshaped him profoundly.

Life Itself was co-founded by Callan, and the care, depth, and intentionality behind what we are building cannot be separated from that experience of love and loss. Olivia’s influence did not end with her passing; it continues through the values, choices, and human-centered approach that define this work.

Olivia was brilliant, driven, and deeply alive. Raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, she knew from a young age that she wanted to design cosmetics — not as fantasy, but as science. She earned a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, then moved to New York City to pursue her master’s degree. In 2021, she began living her dream as a Technical Product Design Lead for global makeup at Avon.

She carried a rare balance of rigor and warmth — a scientist who loved beauty, a designer who cared deeply about people, a high achiever whose kindness never thinned under pressure. Olivia loved art, fashion, science, and animals. She was endlessly curious, quietly funny, and deeply thoughtful.

A devoted science and space enthusiast, Olivia named her beloved cats Mr. Hubble and Spitzer after the space telescopes she admired. She touched hundreds of lives through her generosity, her smile, and her presence — among her family, her gymnastics community, her sorority sisters, and her friends in both Nebraska and New York.

Through Callan, Olivia’s influence lives inside Life Itself in ways both visible and invisible: in the way we prioritize care over extraction; in the belief that ambition and gentleness belong together; in the commitment to building spaces that honor the whole human; and in the insistence that what we create should be worthy of the people we love.

This page exists not as a memorial frozen in time, but as an acknowledgment of a simple truth:

Some relationships shape you so deeply that they become part of what you build next.

Olivia is part of Life Itself — not as a story we tell, but as a presence we carry forward.