What role does Olivia Swann play on NCIS: Sydney? Everything to know about her character

CBS and Paramount+’s NCIS: Sydney premiered its first season on November 10, 2023, and since then has been running for three successful seasons.

This is a spinoff series of the original NCIS franchise, created by Donald P. Bellisario and Don McGill.

The central storyline and plot arc themes of the show focus on how, with the tensions rising in the Indo-Pacific, an entire team of the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) agents collaborate with members of the Australian Federal Police to try to keep a strict check on the naval criminal activity occurring in one of the most congested ocean patches in the world.

Two of the main protagonists of the show are Sargent Jim JD Dempsey and Special Agent Michelle Mackney. Veteran actress Olivia Swann plays the character of Michelle Mackney.

Olivia Swann had been announced as a part of the original cast, crew, and production of NCIS: Sydney from June 2023 onwards.

Special Agent Michelle Mackney’s character is shown to have an 18 year old son who lives in Australia with his grandparents while she works on her duties abroad.

In a recent interview with Euphoriazine, actress Olivia Swann shared that she had a few similarities with her on-screen character, like her affinity for taking on risky tasks in life and also showing her vulnerable side.

She also shared that from season 1 to season 3, which is currently airing, her character, Michelle Mackney, also grew a lot in terms of who she was, and her relationship with JD Dempsey got deeper.

Details explored on actress Olivia Swann’s NCIS: Sydney on-screen character, Michelle Mackney, and how she relates to her

CBS and Paramount+’s NCIS: Sydney, which first premiered its initial franchise spinoff in November 2023, has been running successfully and is currently airing its third season.

One of the main protagonists of the show is the character of Special Agent Michelle Mackney, who is played by veteran actress Olivia Swann.

In her recent interview with Euphoriazine on the premiere of season 3 of the show on October 14, 2025, she shared that a few of the major storylines that her character would be shown dealing with would be a dangerous nano technician assassin, a trip to Antarctica for work to investigate naval crimes, an alien abduction, and a huge treasure hunt.

She also shared that in the latest season, her character, Michelle Mackney, has developed a lot of character growth, and her past will be a part of a majority of storylines. She said,

“The overarching theme this season is ‘your past comes back to haunt you,’ and we see a lot of our characters dealing with the fallout of past actions, especially Mackey. We get a huge insight into who Mackey is, and she gets challenged in a way we’ve never seen before, which is really compelling”. 

In season 2 of NCIS: Sydney, Swann’s on-screen character was shown dealing with a huge emotional fallout after losing her trust in Darwin, and since then, she has struggled with trying to maintain professional ties.

However, despite this event that hurt her, her relationship with Sargent JD Dempsey deepened. She spoke highly of Michelle’s strength and strong-willed character on screen and shared that,

“Delving into Mackey’s vulnerability and heart this season has allowed me to bring a bit more of myself to her, which I think helps to ground and center the character we’ve come to know”. 

Stay tuned for more updates.