George Oliver

George Oliver
12th President Of Slokais
In office January 15th,2009 – January 15th, 2011
Preceded by	Sean Khan
Mayor of Point Lee
In office May 10th, 2019 – May 10th, 2024
Representative of the Slokaisian Legislature
In office January 2nd 1993 – January 2nd, 2009
Personal details
Born	(1949-10-23) October 23, 1949 Eastern Township, San Fernando
Spouse(s)	Lenite Chu
Children	Laura Oliver, James Oliver
Mother	Mary Hyland Oliver
Father	Paul Oliver
Military service
Allegiance	United Federation Army of Slokais
Years of service	1966-1970
Rank	Private

George Oliver is a Slokasian politician who was the President of Slokais from 2009 to 2011. Previously, Oliver served in the Slokaisan Legislature representing Wojiang Bay Province from 1993 to 2009. In addition is the CEO of the Oliver-Chu Holdings, a large corporation which is a major holder of real estate properties and manufacturing. Oliver is additionally an author and public-speaker who served for 4 years in the United Federation Army of Slokais.

Early Life and Military Career

George Thomas Karong Oliver was born on October 23rd, 1949 in Eastern Township, San Fernando Province. Oliver is the son of Mary Hyland and Paul Oliver. Oliver identifies as Blancos due to his Sanctarian ancestry, however he claims partial indigenous ancestry through his mother's side with his grandmother Lia Karong be of the Piujaraya ethnic group. Oliver spent his early years living with his mother and grandmother on a large farm, however in 1961 moved to San Fernando to join his father, a successful businessman. Paul Oliver was a member of the Catholic Restoration Group, a group of Anti-Costa Catholics who considered his usage of religious doctrine as heretical. In 1964, George witnessed the liberation of San Fernando from National Reformist forces with Paul opening his home as a temporary command center. In 1966, Oliver volunteered to join the UFA Army, mainly serving in a partial capacity delivering ammunition supplies as a member of a police unit. When the UFA was disbanded in 1970, the 21-year old received the Medal of the Federation, a honor given to all those who fought for the UFA. He was also granted a pension of 75,000 Slokaisan Marks.

Business Career

Oliver graduated from San Fernando University in 1975 with a degree in economics. During his studies he began his first company, Oliver Holdings LLC which owned several factories as well as other small business ventures. In 1977, Oliver purchased a small real-estate firm and proceeded to flip there holdings quickly scaling the business to be one of the largest providers of new-build homes in San Fernando by 1985. During this time, Oliver married Lenite Chu, daughter of shipping tycoon David Chu. Through this marriage, Chu merged into a combined company known as Oliver-Chu holdings. This elevated Oliver to a higher status as his business and market strategy became the subject of media attention. In 1988, Oliver began his acclaimed Master's of the Market book series. Through the book, Oliver detailed various business and professional strategies. Due to this position, Oliver became good friends with Conservative Party leadership who suggested he enter the political world. In 1990, Oliver began hosting Real Talk, a series where investors would pitch ideas to both the public and investors, with Oliver himself agreeing to purchase stake in certain products. Real Talk ran on Harvest TV, where it became the most popular English-language series on the traditionally Mandarin focused channel.

Political Career

Oliver was outspoken for several years about various political issues such as the job market and education. In the 1992 Election, Oliver joined the Conservatives for Wojiang Bay list and campaigned along with the list's other members. The 1992 Election saw Conservative gains across all levels of government due to distrust in the Left Party and the general popularity of the prior Conservative executive administration. Oliver was appointed to the Committee on Economic Activity and the Committee on Veteran and Pensioner Affairs by the Conservative majority-government. Thought the 1990s, Oliver largely focused on debt reduction and increasing industrial development in the Wojiang Bay Province. In the 2000 Conservative Party leadership election, which would determine the PM after the resignation of Matthew Rainhangartha-Collins, Oliver was a candidate. He received support from moderate political groups and economists who praised his attempts at good government. In the end he received 21% of delegate votes, losing to war-veteran and long-time politician Paul Richardson. When Richardson passed away on November 8th, Oliver immediately endorsed Felix Johnson along with much of the parliamentary membership due to the upcoming 2000 Election. In 2004, Oliver was elevated to Leader of the Opposition by members of the coalition, thus leading to Oliver often leading debate against the governing coalition and acting as a primary point of contract. In 2007, Oliver declared his intent to run for President on a platform of ending the Second Kaijan War, combatting corruption and fostering international cooperation. Oliver began a nationwide tour through late 2007 which was produced into a book "At a Crossroads: 2008". In the book, Oliver describes the end of post-war economic miracle, growing corruption, violence and sectional conflict.

Presidential Term

2008 Election

Oliver positioned himself early on the in Conservative primary as a relatable business mind, touting political success and business wisdom. He drew largely on suburban social conservative, economic liberals through a platform of improving quality of life such as reducing crime and reducing prices. Oliver won the Conservative nomination on April 25th over Sarah Liu, with 59% of the vote. Oliver immediately entered political negotiations with several other parties mainly being the Center Party and the New Right Party. Polling revealed that if the Conservatives where to gain the second-choice support of either party it would bring them over 50%. Oliver held discussions with Joseph Zhang who stated he would not endorse any candidate for the second-round as he believed he could win due to his own polling. Meanwhile, Oliver publicly called the New Right, "a little too radical", although he let some provincial party's run a joint-list. By September, Oliver had 39% support compared to 31% for Sean Khan. Oliver also brought to light, Khan's lack of religious belief as a marker against him, arguing his beliefs lead to poor leadership over the military in Kaijan. Oliver also chose Robert Pau-Zhen, Mayor of Pindai to secure Minjian voters. In the end, Oliver received 42.3% in the first round, then 54.1% in the second round, with much of the support coming from the New Right and the Center Party regardless of the endorsement.

Early Presidency

George Oliver took office on January 15th, 2009 in a public ceremony with Chief Justice Calvin Jie-Huang officiating the oath of office. One of Oliver's first act's as President was to place command of all military forces in Kaijan under direct federal control. This was controversial as the practice had been ended in 1973 as part of the transition period after the Great War. In addition, Oliver also pushed for the passage of a budgetary bill which would increase internal military spending to a higher percentage, although it was rejected in Parliament. Economically, Oliver lessened restrictions on developers by placing an executive hold on the Federal Environmental Protection Board (FERB) due to allegations of corruption, although the Supreme Court would rule in 2010 this was an illegal usage of the Corruption Protection Act of 1998. On September 19th, 2009 George Oliver declared victory in Kaijan with the surrender of KILF (Kaijan Islamic Liberation Front). Oliver then placed an exclusion zone on regions affected by the conflict, which allowed for police to arrest persons without reasonable suspicions and search homes without a warrant under the justification of national security. In terms of social policy, Oliver helped pass a bill which granted tax-free status to all religious organizations if there where registered as a charity or a educational institution.

Late Presidency and David Chu Corruption Scandal

On January 12th it was revealed by a Ministry of Internal Affairs investigation that David Chu, father-in-law of Oliver had received a 1.5 billon SM bailout from the Executive Emergency Business Administration Fund (EEBAF). Chu owned the Port of San Jose and alleged the lack of goods being sold and transported through the port required the usage of the EEBAF funds, an organization set up by Oliver in early 2009. Oliver stated he was unaware of the EEBAF's transaction with Chu although stated that Chu's company "needed the funds". A few weeks later, bank statements revealed that Chu had sent 1.3 billon SM to the Investment in the Future Fund (IFF) just days after receiving the EEBAF loan. The IFF was a New Liverpool licensed company which manly organized donor events including those attended by Conservative party members. Chu was arrested for fraudulent usage of funds although was immediately pardoned by Oliver, while Paul Diogo, Head of EEBAF was arrested and eventually charged. The scandal wrecked confidence in both Oliver and the Conservative leadership, and soon Parliament voted in favor of holding an election during the 2-year special election window. Oliver was successfully renominated despite a strong challenge from Raul DeCosta.

Oliver lifted the exclusion zones in Kaijan by executive order in April, officially ending the Second Kaijan War and ending all federal policing operations. Authority was then transferred to newly formed Township Security Force's (TSFs). This move was intended to grow his popularity in right-wing circles for ending the war effectively whoever was criticized by the New Right for being "too soft". Meanwhile, Oliver attempted to appeal to voters in the Minjian Belt, by passing a hate-crime law which would make the destruction of any religious building considerable as a separate offense. However by September, Oliver was polling as low as 12% in some polls. Conservative leadership largely abandoned Oliver by rejecting his suggested party-list. In the end, Oliver received 13.6% of the vote in the first round, a fourth-place finish behind Zhang, Esteves and Spencer.

Post-Presidential Career

Since 2011, Oliver has largely returned to the business world with Oliver-Chu Holdings. In 2014, Oliver opened a large private hospital in Point Lee known as Lenite Chu-George Oliver Medical Center as part of Ensure Medical. Ensure Medical has since become the largest provider of private healthcare in Wojiang Bay, specializing in providing service to rural communities. In 2019, Oliver re-entered politics by running for Mayor of Point Lee Township, after not gaining the endorsement of the Conservative Party, Oliver won the election as an independent with 39.7% of the vote in the first round and 54.7% in the second round against Roberto Iglesias Jr of Socialist-Labor. As the Mayor of Point Lee, Oliver was largely at odds with the left-wing city council who overrode his veto on a bill to rename David Livingstone Park to Semerajong Best Park. In 2022, Oliver attempted a brief political return as a "common-sense moderate" in the Conservative Party primary, he lost however to his former political associate and friend Brooke Weasley. Oliver ended up running as an independent with his own party-list in Wojiang Bay known as Real Talk!. However he only received 1.4% of the vote, most coming from San Fernando and Wojiang Bay provinces. In 2024, Real Talk! ran as a regional political party, although Oliver was eliminated in the first round with 17.8% of the vote.

Legacy

Oliver was well-liked during the 1990s and 2000s due to his smart-thinking no-nonsense persona. This was supported by his campaign efforts in 2008 which portrayed Oliver as a friend of the working-man. As historian, Liang Chen-Chu wrote in 2024 "Oliver came into power as a larger then life, good guy yet by the time he left he was proven to be just another corrupt millionaire". This is supported by Oliver's rapid collapse in opinion polling with his approval at the end of his term being 12.5%. Oliver had multiple things named after him during his Presidency such as George Oliver Parkway in Weston Township and George Oliver-Lenite Chu Station on the Evergreen Eastern Line of Slokaisan Rail.

Personal Life

George Oliver married his now famous in her own right, Lenite Chu in 1976 and the two have two children and 6 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Today, Oliver resides in the quite suburban neighborhood of Westhaven, in addition he owns his family estate in San Fernando and a beach home in Cape Township, Wojiang Bay.