Walker, Olene S. (Olene Smith), 1930-2015

Olene Walker (née Smith; November 15, 1930 – November 28, 2015) was an American politician who served as the 15th governor of Utah. She was sworn into office on November 5, 2003 as Utah's first female governor. From 1993 until 2003, Walker served as the state's first female Lieutenant Governor of Utah. She was a member of the Republican Party.

A native of Ogden, Utah, she attended Weber State College before graduating from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1953 and Stanford University with a master’s degree in political science the following year. After settling with her family in Salt Lake City, Walker served as an education consultant for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Volunteer Program director for the Salt Lake City School District. In 1980, she founded the Salt Lake Education Foundation, serving as its director for nine years. In 1981, Walker graduated from the University of Utah with a doctoral degree in education administration.

From 1981 to 1989, Walker served in the Utah House of Representatives, including a term as Majority Whip. She resigned her seat to serve as community development director for the state of Utah from 1989 to 1992. From January 1993 to November 2003, Walker served as the fourth lieutenant governor in Utah's history, the first woman to hold the position. Walker assumed the office of Governor of the State of Utah after her predecessor, Mike Leavitt, was nominated by President George W. Bush to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. Walker served as governor until the end of the term on January 3, 2005.

In 2012 Walker created the Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service to "help foster in Weber State University students and the broader community the ideals of public service and political engagement that motivated her decades-long career in Utah politics." She died of natural causes less than two weeks after her eighty-fifth birthday.