Background
O'Leary was born in Berthierville, Quebec on 3 July 1910.
O'Leary was born in Berthierville, Quebec on 3 July 1910.
He attended the Collège Saint-Joseph in Berthierville before travelling to Belgium to study at a Roman Catholic seminary in Wavre. Later, he attended the Institut supérieur de commerce Saint-Louis in Brussels, where he earned a license in commercial sciences, and completed licenses in consular and maritime sciences at the Institut Saint-Ignace in Antwerp. O'Leary also studied at the École Libre des Sciences Politiques in Paris and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Mexico City), where he earned a license in philosophy and a Master of Arts in Spanish.
In 1931, he founded the Action politique internationale des universitaires catholiques (Belgique). After returning from Europe, he became a journalist for L'Ordre. Activism
O'Leary was a Quebec nationalist.
Also in 1939, he founded the Bureau de liaison Paris-Montréal. Circa 1947, O'Leary was secretary of the Goodwill Mission Canada–Mexico (French: Mission de bonne entente Canada-Mexique). He served as president of the Quebec Popular Movement for Human Rights (French: Mouvement populaire québécois des droits de l'Homme) from 1966 to 1967, when he founded Quebec International (French: Québec inter-national).
From 1968 to 1970, O'Leary was involved in efforts to disseminate and promote "La marche du Québec" (English: The March of Quebec), a Québécois patriotic song (see Music of Quebec). Subsequently, he was president of The Plateau in Montreal from 1974 to 1975. In the Quebec general election of 1966, O'Leary stood as a candidate for the Rassemblement pour l'Indépendance Nationale in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce riding.
He placed fourth in the contest with 949 votes, losing to Quebec Liberal Eric Kierans. O'Leary published articles in various French-language magazines and newspapers, including L'Indépendance, L’Ordre, and L'Unité. Personal life
He fathered two children: Christian and Pascal.
Death
O'Leary died on 13 September 1989 in Montreal, aged 79.
While in Europe, O'Leary was vice president of the Foyer international des étudiants catholiques (France) and a member of the Mission universitaire catholique française and the Jeunesse universitaire catholique. O'Leary served as secretary of the Parti Québécois' committee on international politics from 1976 to 1976 and was a member of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society's committee on international relations.