Eric Olauson is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician. A member of the

Saskatchewan Party The Saskatchewan Party (SP or Sask Party) is a conservative political party in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The party was founded in 1997 by a coalition of former provincial Progressive Conservative ...

, Olauson was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan () is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legislature in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bills passed by the assembly are given royal assent by the lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan, in the ...

in the 2016 provincial election for the district of Saskatoon University, and served one term before being defeated in the 2020 provincial election. Prior to his time in the Legislature, he was the Ward 8 councillor on

Saskatoon City Council Saskatoon City Council is the governing body of Saskatoon, the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, ...

from 2012 to 2016.

Political career

Saskatoon City Council

Olauson's first bid for a seat on Saskatoon City Council came in a 2011 by-election in Ward 3. A self-described "fiscal and social conservative", he finished last out of seven candidates. The following year, he successfully ran for the vacant Ward 8 seat in the 2012 municipal election. During the subsequent term, Olauson and Ward 5 councillor Randy Donauer earned reputations as the "fiscal hawks" on city council. Olauson frequently questioned the costs of proposed projects and argued against increasing regulations. He unsuccessfully proposed ending funding for public art in new infrastructure projects. In 2015, Olauson voted against banning corporate and union donations to city council candidates, an independent recommendation that was defeated by a 7–4 count. In 2016, Olauson drew attention to lax rules around councillors' communications allowances when he charged four football jerseys, at a value of $440, against the allowance. In 2016, before the end of his term, Olauson became the Saskatchewan Party candidate for the newly established district of Saskatoon University ahead of the 2016 provincial election. When Olauson was elected, he resigned as city councillor.

Saskatchewan Party MLA

Olauson was elected a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) by a margin of 348 votes over the

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's (NDP)

Jennifer Bowes Jennifer Bowes is a Canadian politician. Bowes was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in the 2020 Saskatchewan general election. She represented the electoral district of Saskatoon University as a member of the Saskatchewan New ...

, making it one of the closest races in the election. Olauson was a

backbencher In Westminster system, Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no Minister (government), governmental office and is not a Frontbencher, frontbench spokesperson ...

serving on a number of caucus committees, including the Standing Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs and Justice, the Caucus Management Committee, and the Private Bills House Committee. Olauson also spent time as chair of the Saskatchewan Party caucus. In 2017, Olauson participated in

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

March for Life protests in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. In 2019, as caucus chair, Olauson ordered caucus members not to post on social media or talk with media about caucus member Greg Ottenbreit's anti-abortion views after Ottenbreit delivered a speech promising to fight to block abortion access. Olauson stood for re-election in 2020. He was defeated by Bowes in a re-match of the 2016 race.

Failed school trustee bid

In 2024, Olauson stood for election as a trustee for the Separate (Catholic) school board. Olauson was endorsed by the anti-abortion Campaign Life Coalition as a "pro-life, pro-family" option. Olauson's bid was unsuccessful.

Controversies

It was revealed during the 2016 provincial election campaign that Olauson had two convictions for impaired driving from 1992 and 1993, which were not disclosed during his time as a city councilor. Olauson drew controversy in the summer of 2016, months after being elected MLA, for

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

posts. This included liking a meme about "slapping the shit" out of

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

supporters and liking pages called "Boobszone" and "Cold Dead Hands", the latter an American

gun rights The right to keep and bear arms (often referred to as the right to bear arms) is a legal right for people to possess weapons (arms) for the preservation of life, liberty, and property. The purpose of gun rights is for self-defense, as well as ...

page. While the Opposition NDP called for his resignation, Olauson was ordered by the Saskatchewan Party to stay off of social media and was removed from one of his committee seats. In 2017, Olauson was directed to apologize after ordering a background check and promising an "epic" reply to a constituent who had written to voice concerns regarding provincial budget cuts to libraries and municipal grants. Olauson accidentally used the 'reply all' function, which meant the constituent received the message intended only for Olauson's constituency assistant. In addition to the apology, Olauson was removed from the board of the

Meewasin Valley Authority The Meewasin Valley Authority is a conservation organization created by the Provincial Government of Saskatchewan in Canada and is dedicated to conserving the cultural and natural resources of the South Saskatchewan River Valley. The authority ...

. Olauson claimed to have "mistyped" in his response.

Personal life

Olauson was born and raised in Saskatoon. Prior to entering politics, he worked as an

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

manager. Olauson has been married twice and divorced twice and has two biological children with his first wife.

Electoral results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olauson, Eric Living people Saskatchewan Party MLAs Saskatoon city councillors 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan Year of birth missing (living people)