former MP and cabinet minister
Sir Oliver was the Member of Parliament for West Dorset from 1997 until his retirement in 2019. From 2010, he was the Minister for Government Policy and subsequently Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in David Cameron’s coalition government. After the 2015 General Election, he continued as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and was in overall charge of the Cabinet Office, until July 2016. Before 2010, he held the positions of Shadow Home Secretary, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Shadow Secretary of State for Food and Rural Affairs and Chairman of the Conservative Party Policy Review. He is also currently Vice-President of the Great Britain China Centre (GBCC), Chairman of the Red Tape Initiative (RTI) and Senior Advisor to the Faraday Institute. Educated at Cambridge University, Princeton University and London Business School, he has also had a varied career beyond front-line politics – having been a research fellow at Cambridge University, a civil servant and a bank director. He is the author of several books on politics, economics and philosophy, as well as many pamphlets and articles. He became a privy councillor in 2002 and was knighted in 2016.