Rich Olive Explained

Rich Olive
State Senate:Iowa
District:5th
Term Start:January 8, 2007
Term End:January 9, 2011
Preceded:Stewart Iverson
Succeeded:Robert Bacon
Birth Name:Richard Warren Olive
Birth Date:2 December 1949
Birth Place:Bethesda, Maryland
Death Place:Story City, Iowa
Party:Democratic
Spouse:Marian
Children:3
Residence:Story City, Iowa
Profession:Real estate, Insurance, Army National Guard

Richard Warren "Rich" Olive (December 2, 1949 – June 20, 2016) was an American realtor and politician from Iowa. A Democrat, he served the Fifth District in the Iowa Senate from 2007 until 2011.[1]

Olive served on several committees in the Iowa Senate: the Commerce committee; the Agriculture committee, where he was vice chair; the Economic Growth committee, where he was vice chair; and the Government Oversight committee, where he was chair.

Olive was elected in 2006 with 11,224 votes (50%), defeating Republican opponent James Kurtenbach.[2] In his 2010 bid for re-election, he received 10,510 votes (45%), losing to Republican opponent Robert Bacon.[3]

He attended South Dakota State University on scholarship for both football and basketball, but dropped out to serve in the Iowa National Guard. Olive lived and worked in Story City, where he ran Norsemen Realty.[4] He married Marian Tesdall in 1971, with whom he had three daughters.[5] On June 20, 2016, Olive died of cancer at the age of 66.[6]

Notes and References

  1. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislators/legislator/legislatorAllYears?personID=6255 Iowa General Assembly-Senator Rich Olive
  2. http://www.sos.state.ia.us/pdfs/GenOffResults.pdf 2006 Iowa Election
  3. http://www.sos.state.ia.us/pdfs/elections/2010/stsenorr.pdf 2010 Iowa Elections
  4. News: Crumb. Michael. Former state senator Rich Olive dies. June 22, 2016. Ames Tribune. June 20, 2016.
  5. News: Des Moines Register. https://web.archive.org/web/20160623145243/http://amestrib.com/obituaries/rich-olive-dec-2-1949-june-20-2016. June 23, 2016. Rich Olive Dec. 2, 1949 — June 20, 2016. June 22, 2016. Ames Tribune. June 21, 2016. Alt URL
  6. News: Petroski. William. Former Iowa Sen. Rich Olive dead at 66. June 22, 2016. Des Moines Register. June 20, 2016.