Oliver Thomas

Oliver M. Thomas, Jr. (born February 10, 1957), is a Democratic politician, actor, writer, and poet from New Orleans. He served on the New Orleans City Council from 1994 to 2007. On August 13, 2007, Thomas resigned his council seat after pleading guilty to bribery charges. On Dec. 11, 2021, Oliver Thomas won election to the New Orleans City Council. Early life and family Thomas was born in New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward, the son of a laborer and a telephone operator. After graduating from Joseph S. Clark High School, he was able to go to college after receiving an athletic scholarship. In 1982, Thomas received a bachelor's degree in business studies from the College of Santa Fe, a liberal arts institution in Santa Fe, New Mexico. After graduation, he spent several years on the East Coast working as an account executive for a travel company. He returned to New Orleans in 1985, where he worked as a substitute teacher and began volunteering in a number of political campaigns. He divorced Angelle (Laraque) Thomas, with whom he adopted a son and a daughter and remarried Jasmine Thomas together have one son Ollie.