In the 2017 TV series, he is portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris. In flashbacks, it is shown that Count Olaf was engaged to Kit Snicket, his father was the chief of the City's official fire department, and his mother had died in a fire. His father was accidentally killed one night at the opera by a poison dart thrown by Beatrice Baudelaire that was meant for Esmé. This led to both Olaf's swearing vengeance on both Beatrice and Lemony and the schism that split V.F.D. After some time wandering underground, Count Olaf was taken in as a student of the Man with a Beard But No Hair and the Woman with Hair But No Beard.