Olene Walker (née Smith; November 15, 1930 – November 28, 2015) was an American politician who served as the
15th governor of Utah from 2003 to 2005, succeeding the governorship after
Mike Leavitt's resignation. A member of the
Republican Party, Walker was Utah's first female governor and the first female Lieutenant Governor of Utah.
Early life and education
Walker was born Olene Smith in
Ogden, Utah, in 1930 to Thomas Ole Smith and Nina (née Hadley) Smith, the second of their five children. She graduated from Weber High School. Walker received her bachelor's degree from
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...
in 1953, her master's from
Stanford University, and her doctorate in education administration from the
University of Utah
The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...
.
Career
Walker's began her career in the
Utah House of Representatives
The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district conta ...
, including a term as
Majority Whip
A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...
, during which she helped create Utah’s Rainy Day Fund. She served as the
fourth Lieutenant Governor of Utah for the 10 years prior to becoming governor.
She founded the Salt Lake Education Foundation and served as its director. She served as director of the Utah Division of Community Development. She has chaired the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, the Utah State Housing Coordinating Committee, the Governor's Commission on Child Care, and the
National Conference of Lieutenant Governors The National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA) is the non-profit, nonpartisan professional association for elected or appointed officials who are first in line of succession to the governors in the 50 U.S. states and the five organized terri ...
. She also became the first woman governor of Utah. Senator
Orrin Hatch
Orrin Grant Hatch (March 22, 1934 – April 23, 2022) was an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Utah from 1977 to 2019. Hatch's 42-year Senate tenure made him the longest-serving Republican U.S. senato ...
said Walker "truly paved the way for women in government in Utah."
Also, throughout her political career "her passion across the board" was education.
Governorship
Walker assumed the office of Governor of the State of Utah after previous governor
Mike Leavitt was nominated by
President George W. Bush to lead the
Environmental Protection Agency in 2003. Walker served as governor until the end of the term on January 3, 2005.
During her short term as governor, Walker focused on supporting education in Utah. She created the Read With a Child Early Literacy Initiative, visited classrooms often to read to children, and vetoed a proposal for vouchers for private schools with the reasoning that the proposal would take funding away from public schools.
She also signed legislation ending the use of firing squads for execution in Utah and worked to preserve Utah wilderness and to create affordable housing.
In a move that caused a degree of controversy within the state, the
Utah Republican Party
The Utah Republican Party is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Utah. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all four of Utah's U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, the governorship, and has sup ...
at its convention on May 8, 2004, elected not to place Walker on the ballot for the party primary (held on June 22, 2004), selecting instead
Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Jon Meade Huntsman Jr. (born March 26, 1960) is an American businessman, diplomat and politician who served as the 16th Governor of Utah from 2005 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the Ambassador of the United States to ...
and
Nolan Karras
Nolan E. Karras (born December 30, 1944 in Ogden, Utah) is an American politician and businessman who served as a member of the Utah House of Representatives from 1981 to 1990.
Early life and education
Karras earned a Bachelor of Science deg ...
as the two potential Republican party candidates for the office of Governor of the State of Utah, the first time in 48 years that an incumbent Utah governor failed to win a party nomination. Huntsman went on to win the primary election with more than 66% of the vote. These events effectively ruled out any possibility of Walker being on the ballot in the 2004 general election. Convention delegates defended their choice by claiming that many of the delegates were already pledged to other candidates, because Walker had served only six months as Governor before the party convention. She had also waited until two months before the nominating convention to choose to run for re-election, giving her rivals a head start to build their campaigns.
She left office with an 87% approval rating.
Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service
In 2012 Walker created the Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service to "help foster in
Weber State University
Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.
History
Weber State University was founded ...
students and the broader community the ideals of public service and political engagement that motivated her decades-long career in Utah politics." The Walker Institute coordinates internships for Weber State University students, holds public forums and debates on public policy issues, and provides leadership and engaged-citizenship workshops for students and the community at large.
Personal life
Walker was married to Myron Walker; they had seven children and twenty-five grandchildren. Walker and her husband were Latter-day Saints (
Mormon
Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...
s). She and her husband served as International Affairs missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New York City. Starting in spring of 2010 she served as the
Primary president in the Bloomington 7th Ward on the south side of
St. George, Utah
St. George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona border, it is the principal city of the St. George Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The city lies in the northe ...
.
Olene Walker died of natural causes on November 28, 2015, thirteen days after her 85th birthday.
Two of her brothers and their wives died in a plane crash on February 28, 1981.
Recognition
The State of Utah operates the Olene Walker Housing Loan Fund, which seeks to provide affordable housing throughout the state, renovate rural housing, protect tenants from landlords who seek to exploit them, and in other ways provide livable housing options to low income residents of the state.
In 2003, ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' named her Utahn of the Year.
In May 2010 the Utah County Democratic Party gave Walker its first distinguished service award.
Walker was one of the first co-chairs of the Utah Debate Commission.
Olene Walker Elementary School opened in 2020.
See also
*
List of female governors in the United States
As of November 2022, 45 women have served or are serving as the governor of a U.S. state (two acting governors due to vacancies) and three women have served or are serving as the governor of an unincorporated U.S. territory. Two women have ser ...
*
List of female lieutenant governors in the United States
As of January 18, 2023, there are 22 women currently serving (excluding acting capacity) as lieutenant governors in the United States. Overall, 118 women have served (including acting capacity).
Women have been elected lieutenant governor from 4 ...
References
External links
Olene Walker*
Governor Olene Walker, Utah's First (and only) Female Governor
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Olene S.
1930 births
2015 deaths
American Latter Day Saints
Brigham Young University alumni
Republican Party governors of Utah
Lieutenant Governors of Utah
Republican Party members of the Utah House of Representatives
Politicians from Ogden, Utah
Stanford University alumni
2000 United States presidential electors
2004 United States presidential electors
University of Utah alumni
Women in Utah politics
Women state governors of the United States
Women state legislators in Utah
21st-century American women politicians
21st-century American politicians
20th-century American women politicians
20th-century American politicians