Cathy Olesen (born c. 1961) is a politician in

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. She served on

Strathcona County Strathcona County is a Specialized municipalities of Alberta, specialized municipality in the Edmonton Metropolitan Region within Alberta, Canada between Edmonton and Elk Island National Park. It forms part of Division No. 11, Alberta, Census Di ...

Council from 1995, first as a councillor then mayor, until her defeat in 2010. Olesen then went into provincial politics, and has represented

Sherwood Park Sherwood Park is a large hamlet in Alberta, Canada within Strathcona County that is recognized as an urban service area. It is adjacent to the City of Edmonton's eastern boundary. While long confined to generally south of Highway 16 ( Ye ...

from the 2012 provincial election until her defeat in the 2015 provincial election.

Political career

Olesen successfully ran for County councillor, in the new Ward 4, in 1995. She held this position for three terms, until deciding to take a run for mayor. Olesen become mayor of Strathcona County in 2004, and was re-elected in 2007, in a close three-way race. In

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Olesen lost to Linda Osinchuk. In 2012, with Sherwood Park MLA

Iris Evans Iris Sylvia Evans (born December 31, 1941) is a former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations for the Canadian province. From November 25, 2004 to December 15, 2006 she serve ...

retiring, Olesen ran for the Progressive Conservative (PC) nomination. She won the PC nomination by only one vote over Susan Timanson. On April 23, 2012, Olesen won the Sherwood Park riding, and successfully made her way into provincial politics. On May 5, 2015 Olesen lost to Annie McKitrick.

Electoral history

2015 general election

References

1960s births Living people Women mayors of places in Alberta Politicians from Winnipeg Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta MLAs Women MLAs in Alberta 21st-century mayors of places in Alberta 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta 21st-century Canadian women politicians Year of birth missing (living people) {{Alberta-MLA-stub