Olene S. Walker

Olene Smith Walker ( * November 15, 1930 in Ogden, Utah) is an American politician ( Republican), who was Vice- Governor from 1993 to 2003 and from 2003 to 2005 Governor of the State of Utah.

Private life

Walker received her bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University, her master's degree from Stanford University and her Ph.D. at the University of Utah. She is married to Myron Walker. The couple have seven children together and 25 grandchildren.

Political career

She was the first woman who held the office of Lieutenant Governor of Utah. In this role, she led a lot of important initiatives. These included training programs, the budgeting of security measures, health care reform and education programs for employees. They also introduced the Health Care Reform Task Force, which resulted in the establishment of the Children's Health Insurance Program ( CHIP) and secured an affordable health care for Utah's children. She had presided over the Workforce Task Force, which resulted to the creation of the Department of Workforce Services. In addition, they had also presided over the National Conference of Lieutenant Governors and was president of the National Association of Secretaries of State. She was the first lieutenant-governor, who held this office in each case. Furthermore, they belonged to the House of Representatives from Utah as Whip of the Republican majority faction.

On November 5, 2003, she was sworn in as the first woman in the office of the governor of Utah. In her ending on 3 January 2005 term of office led programs to improve literacy and education.