Richard Warren "Rich" Olive (December 2, 1949 – June 20, 2016) was an American realtor and politician from Iowa. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he served the Fifth District in the

Iowa Senate The Iowa Senate is the upper house of the Iowa General Assembly, United States. There are 50 seats in the Iowa Senate, representing 50 single-member districts across the state of Iowa with populations of approximately 60,927 per constituency, . ...

from 2007 until 2011. 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 Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

opponent James Kurtenbach. In his 2010 bid for re-election, he received 10,510 votes (45%), losing to Republican opponent

Robert Bacon Robert Bacon (July 5, 1860 – May 29, 1919) was an American statesman and diplomat. He was also a leading banker and businessman who worked closely with Secretary of State Elihu Root, 1905-1909, and served as United States Secretary of Sta ...

. He attended

South Dakota State University South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...

on scholarship for both football and basketball, but dropped out to serve in the

Iowa National Guard The Iowa National Guard of the United States, National Guard consists of the: *Iowa Army National Guard and the *Iowa Air National Guard The Iowa National Guard headquarters is at Camp Dodge in Johnston, Iowa, Johnston, several miles north of th ...

. Olive lived and worked in Story City, where he ran Norsemen Realty. He married Marian Tesdall in 1971, with whom he had three daughters. On June 20, 2016, Olive died of cancer at the age of 66.

References

1949 births 2016 deaths Politicians from Bethesda, Maryland People from Story City, Iowa Businesspeople from Iowa Democratic Party Iowa state senators American Lutherans Deaths from cancer in Iowa American real estate brokers South Dakota State Jackrabbits men's basketball players South Dakota State Jackrabbits football players National Guard (United States) officers American men's basketball players 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century Lutherans Military personnel from Iowa {{Iowa-politician-stub