Olson's first job was as a lifeguard at age 15, which she continued to do until graduating from college. Olson received her education towards becoming a teacher. She then worked in finance for six years before moving to modeling and acting.[6] Summer began working in the adult film industry at the age of 29. She is one of several performers to be cast as characters similar to politician Sarah Palin in a porn parody such as the 2009 Drill Baby Drill by Penthouse Features. In July 2009, she signed an exclusive girl/girl contract with Girlfriends Films studios. In November 2011, her debut as a director was announced with the movie Perfect Fit. In January 2012, the Internet Adult Film Database (IAFD) announced, in a release of compiled data, that Summer "was the busiest female performer in the industry" with 78 new titles released in 2011. Summer is considered to be the most prolific female "interracial" performer, with a total of 118 interracial titles as of July 4, 2014. Summer has stated that one of the least pleasurable aspects of her job is dealing with hate mail for doing interracial work.