Nicholas Oliver

Nicholas Anthony Oliver (born May 20, 1979) is an American lobbyist; he led the fight for Rhode Island's anti-smoking laws. He has worked for several organizations including the American Heart Association and the Massachusetts Association of 766 Approved Private Schools. He briefly worked for W. Mitt Romney when he served as Governor of Massachusetts.

Early life

Oliver was born in East Providence, Rhode Island to Rosemary (sur Perry) and Anthony Oliver. His mother, Rosemary, was a certified nurse assistant, now a special education assistant teacher, and his father, Anthony, is an electrical engineer. He has one sister, Heather born in 1984. Oliver was raised in East Providence and graduated from East Providence Senior High School in 1997.

Education

In 1997, Oliver left Rhode Island to attend the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut, where he was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Political Economy and Public Relations in 2000. He received a masters degree in Public Affairs from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2008.

Career

After graduating from Hartford, Oliver joined the American Heart Association and became one of the first state directors within the organization to begin the association's advocacy entity. Initially working on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) legal issues, such as Good Samaritan Protections, Oliver quickly moved on to building a base of supporters from multiple organizations and individuals for fighting to increase the state's tobacco excise tax and to create significant structure changes to the Rhode Island smoking freedoms law. On March 1, 2005, Rhode Island became one of the first state's to ban smoking in all public places, making the state's law still the strictest smokefree worksite law in the country.

Oliver moved on to work for Governor Romney shortly thereafter to work on environmental policy issues including creating grant programs to incentivize hospitals across Massachusetts to recycle and be more responsible for handling biomedical waste. He also oversaw the state's bottle deposit program and investigated corporate beverage producers who violated the state's law.

Just before the end of the Romney administration, Oliver left to work for the Massachusetts Association of 766 Approved Private Schools, maaps. maaps is the association that represents all special education schools that serve Massachusetts children with severe disabilities. 766 represents the state's classification code for the schools under chapter 71B of the Massachusetts general laws.

Personal life

On July 9, 2005, Oliver married Emily Catherine Burtt in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. They now live in Beverly with their daughter, Micaela Ashlynne. Oliver and his wife are expecting their second child in early 2009.

References

Celebrating Healthcare Improvements in Rhode Island: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4100/is_200412/ai_n9467809

Smokefree Zone: http://www.health.state.ri.us/tobacco/SmokeFreeZone1004.pdf

Clean Air news: http://www.environmentrhodeisland.org/newsroom/clean-air-news/clean-air-news/governor-carcieri-hits-a-home-run-for-air-quality-in-rhode-island-public-health-and-environmental-groups-applaud-decision-to-adopt-clean-cars-standard

RI Senate Journal on Stroke Awareness: http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/Journals01/SenateJournals01/SJournal5-22.htm

RI House Journal on Stroke Awareness: http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText01/HouseText01/H6513.htm

RI Physical Education Framework: http://www.thriveri.org/documents/RI_PE_Framework.pdf

Clean Cars, Cleaner Air: http://ripirg.org/RI.asp?id2=13235&id3=RI&

Tobacco Prevention: http://www.tobaccoprevention.net/resources_august04.htm

Wedding Announcement - Providence Journal: http://www.projo.com/cgi-bin/weddings/view.cgi?id=5230

Special Education Matters: http://www.spedschools.com/SpEdMatters/

Sigma Nu News: http://www.sigmanu.org/news/news.php