Olive Crane

Olive Crane is a Canadian politician and social worker from Douglas Station, Prince Edward Island. She was the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island from 2007 to 2010 on an interim basis and 2010 to 2013 on a permanent basis. She was also leader of the Official Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island from 2007 to 2010 and 2010 to 2013.

On December 5, 2012, Crane announced her resignation as leader of the party as of January 31, 2013.

She is a member of the legislature representing District 7 Morell-Mermaid. On September 4, 2007 she was appointed the interim leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island, serving until her resignation in 2010. She is the fifth woman to serve as leader/interim leader of a PEI political party (after Catherine Callbeck, Leone Bagnall, Sharon Labchuk and Pat Mella).

On May 26, 2010, Olive Crane resigned as interim leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Prince Edward Island and announced her intentions to seek the permanent leadership. On October 2, 2010, she won the leadership of the PEI Progressive Conservative Party on the second ballot, defeating her main opponent Jamie Ballem.

A native of Morell, Prince Edward Island, Crane is a graduate of Dalhousie University. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island on March 20, 2006 in the by-election for District #2, Morell-Fortune Bay, and re-elected to the Legislature on May 28, 2007 representing District # 7, Morell-Mermaid. Following the 2007 election, she was appointed the Opposition Critic for Health, Education, the Status of Women, and Communities, Cultural Affairs and Labour.

She is a career civil servant, working as a social worker for the provincial government since 1979. She has worked in a variety of departments from Health & Social Services, Office of the Attorney General to Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture.