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
Oliver spent his childhood and youth in East Providence and graduated from East Providence Senior High School in 1997. He graduated with a bachelor"s degree in Political Economy and Public Relations in 2000, and later received a masters degree in Public Affairs from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2008.
He has worked for several organizations including the American Heart Association and the Massachusetts Association of 766 Approved Private Schools. He briefly worked for West. Mitt Romney when he served as Governor of Massachusetts. After graduating from Hartford, Oliver joined the American Heart Association and became one of the first state directors within the organization to found the association"s advocacy entity.
On March 1, 2005, Rhode Island became one of the first states to ban smoking in all public places, making the state"s law still the strictest smoke-free worksite law in the country.
Oliver moved on to work for Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney shortly thereafter assess environmental policy, including creating grant incentives help hospitals across Massachusetts to recycle and be more responsible in handling biomedical waste. He also oversaw the state"s bottle deposit program and investigated corporate beverage producers who violated state law.
Just before the end of the Romney administration, Oliver left to work for the Massachusetts Association of 766 Approved Private Schools (MAAPS), which represents all special education schools that serve Massachusetts children with severe disabilities.
