(RANDALLSTOWN) – The Greater Baltimore area lost two political icons over the weekend. Mary Pat Clarke and Ken Oliver both got their wings. This story is about Oliver, who became Baltimore County’s first Black county councilman.
Born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1945, Ken Oliver attended Baltimore City public schools. He went on to study business at the University of Baltimore, where he obtained a B.S. in business administration. Afterward, he obtained his MBA at Morgan State University with a concentration in finance.
And that’s where his banking career launched. First, he was a finance specialist in the Office of Finance Programs in the Department of Business and Economic Development in 2011. It didn’t take long for him to rise through the ranks to become Vice President of commercial lending at the historic Harbor Bank of Maryland. The former Assistant Professor at Coppin State College then became the Senior Vice President for credit and marketing at the Development Credit Fund, Inc.
Married with three grandchildren, Councilman Oliver served on the Baltimore County Council from 2002 to 2014. In that time frame, he also served the County in other capacities. The proud Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity member held many different posts, including Chair of the county’s Planning Board from 1999-2001; former Chair of the Spending Affordability Committee, Baltimore County; former member of the Human Relations Commission, Baltimore County; Private Industry Council, Baltimore County; member, Citizens Advisory Board for Walter P. Carter Community Mental Health and Retardation Center, 1983-91 (past chair); and he served on the State Board of Waterworks and Waste Systems Operators, 1986-90.
As councilman for the 4th district—including much of the Liberty Road corridor—he brought his expertise to better serve the upwardly mobile Black community in northwest Baltimore County. Because of his political prowess, Liberty Road area residents now have a Walmart, a Home Depot, and the Liberty Road Resource Center. They also have a YMCA with the largest indoor track in the county.
At the time, Jim Smith was the Baltimore County Executive. Smith, a strong lawyer by profession, could not deny Oliver’s efforts to bring more resources and amenities to the Liberty Road corridor. Oliver believed that if other communities could have the finer things in life, the Black people living along the Liberty Road corridor should have the same.
Oliver was a man who took no prisoners. His early days in downtown Westside communities strengthened his resolve and gave him an edge many politicians today lack. He was his own man, often the only Black American in the room. Challenges and obstacles did not phase Oliver because he was built to serve, and unapologetically so.
Donald Morton “Doni” Glover,
Emmy-nominated Host/Producer
CEO, DMGlobal Marketing & Public Relations, LLC
Author, Unapologetically Black: Doni Glover Autobiography (2015)
I Am Black Wall Street (2021), Journapreneur
https://bmorenews.com/
https://www.facebook.com/bmorenews.comofficial