Conservative Senator Donald Oliver will be retiring from the Senate in the fall of 2013 after spending over 20 years in the upper chamber. At the time, Oliver was a successful barrister and businessman, well known in Nova Scotia for his courtroom successes as well as for his prominent roles within the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia.
Oliver was one of five children born to a Baptist minister father and concerrt pianist and dressmaker mother. Music and religion played a large part in the Oliver family's home in Wolfville. Oliver played the trumpet as a young boy and even had his own jazz band.
Oliver learned to cook from his two sisters and to this day makes his own jams, relishes, and pickles. Oliver attended the Cordon Bleu Cooking School in London and took another course in Italian cooking in Florence. His father wanted Donald to follow in his footsteps and become a minister, but Oliver opted to study law at Dalhousie University instead.
Oliver's tenure in the Senate will likely be remembered for his work as chairman of the banking and legal affairs committees. Oliver is president of Glen Moir Holdings, Pleasant River Farms, and Dolin Fisheries, all based in Nova Scotia. He's also a director of a number of companies. Catherine Clark spoke to Donald Oliver about his life Beyond Politics.
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