Kaipo Olsen-Baker

Kaipo Olsen-Baker (born 1 May 2002) is a New Zealand rugby union player. She made her Black Ferns test debut in 2022. She also played for Hurricanes Poua and Matatū in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition and represents Manawatu provincially.

Early life Kaipo Olsen-Baker was born on 1 May 2002 to Gabe Olsen and Jason Baker. Her father played rugby for the Pirates and Horouta clubs, while her mother goal shoot and goal-attack for several Gisborne and East Coast club netball sides. Her early life was spent in Rangitukia, which is located north of Tikitiki on the East Coast of the North island of New Zealand.

She originally played football. Among her teammates were fellow Black Ferns Renee Holmes and Kelsey Teneti. She was introduced to rugby by former Black Fern Trish Hina, but she preferred to concentrate on basketball playing as point guard and at the age of 15 earned a trial with the New Zealand Tall Ferns.

International debut She was named in the Black Ferns squad for the 2022 Pacific Four Series. Olsen-Baker made her international debut on 5 June 2022 in the test against Australia in Tauranga. Played in torrential rain, she scored a 20-metre runaway try to contribute to her team’s 23-10 victory. Olsen-Baker was named player of the match.

Olsen-Baker was recalled into the team for the August test series against the Australia for the Laurie O'Reilly Cup.

She was forced to miss the 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup due to a foot injury received during training that prevented from playing rugby for over a year.

She returned to the field in 2023 where she played for the Hurricanes Poua in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition. She then played for Manawatū Cyclones in that year’s Farah Palmer Cup in which the Cyclones beat every team, only to narrowly lose to Northland in the final. She remained with Matatū for the 2025 season.

2025 Women's Rugby World Cup In July 2025, she was named in the Black Ferns side to the Women's Rugby World Cup in England. In the opening match against Spain on 24 August she received what was a suspected ankle fracture and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher. At the time it appeared that she would be unable to play anymore matches at the tournament but she returned for the quarter-final against South Africa on 13 Septmember, in which she scored two tries, made 26 tackles and completed made seven carries for a total gain of 57 metres. This performance saw her named Player of the Match.