| Olivera Ćirković | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Native Name: | Оливера Ћирковић | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Native Name Lang: | sr | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Name: | Olivera Vasić | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 3 September 1969 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality: | Serbian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation: | basketball player, writer, painter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Credits: | , which produces label "Notable credit(s)"; or by | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Works: | , which produces label "Works"; or by | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Label Name: | , which produces label "Label(s)" --> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criminal Charge: | jewellery store robberies | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criminal Penalty: | 12 years in Greek prison | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Criminal Status: | Released after 6 years | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children: | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Module: |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Olivera "Olja" Ćirković (Serbian: Оливера Ћирковић; née Vasić Serbian: Васић; born 3 September 1969), is a Serbian writer and painter, former convicted criminal and former professional basketball player and administrator. She was a member of international jewel thief network Pink Panthers.[1]
Ćirković spent her career with Voždovac, Crvena zvezda, Jedinstvo Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Pagrati Athens[2] (Greece) and Celje[3] (Slovenia).
Ćirković was a member of the Yugoslavia women's national under-18 basketball team that won the bronze medal at the 1988 European Championship for Junior Woman together with Nina Bjedov, Danira Nakić, Eleonora Wild, Danijela Ilić and others.[4] Over two tournament games, she averaged 1.5 points per game.[5]
After retirement from playing career, Ćirković worked as a sports director for Crvena zvezda.[6]
Ćirković is the infamous female member of the international jewel thief network Pink Panthers. She was the mastermind behind a team of criminals raiding jewellery stores in Greece. She was convicted and arrested twice for her personal involvement in those crimes. The first arrest was in 2006.[7] In March 2012 she got caught again and was arrested a second time.[8] On 12 July 2012, she managed to successfully escape from the central prison of Athens.[9] She escaped on foot to her native country Serbia before gathering her criminal team again to plan & execute the next robbery - again in Athens on 26 November 2012. On 29 November 2012, she was arrested and convicted to a total of 32 years of prison in Corydallos penitentiary. In a later trial, her lawyer managed to convince the court to dismiss some of the charges and due to a general amnesty in 2017, she finally spent only 5 years in prison.[10]
Ćirković has one son who also plays basketball.