Clifford Oliver is a member of the federal Senior Executive Service (SES) and is currently Deputy Assistant Administrator for Financial Systems Modernization in FEMA’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer. In this role, Dr. Oliver serves as Program Executive for FEMA’s Financial System Modernization (FSM) program that is focused on modernizing the current FEMA financial management information technology infrastructure. As the Program Executive, he oversees the Program Management Office operations, provides overall program strategy direction, ensure the modernization effort is closely aligned with other ongoing information technology modernization efforts both within FMEA and other DHS component organizations, and serves as Chair of the FEMA FSM Solution Executive Steering Committee
Prior to his current to his current position, Dr. Oliver held numerous executive, management, and senior technical positions within FEMA, including being Executive Director of the Insurance Acquisition and Technology Support Division within FEMA’s Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration where he successfully improved the current information technology systems supporting the NFIP (including the modernization effort, known as Pivot), contract administration as well as budget, programming, planning and execution.
Prior to this position, Dr. Oliver was the Director of the Acquisition Programs and Policy Division in FEMA’s Office of the Chief Procurement Officer. In this capacity, Dr. Oliver led the efforts to effectively manage the full acquisition lifecycle of FEMA’s most complex and highest priority acquisition. Dr. Oliver also served as FEMA’s Competition Advocate, Task Order Ombudsman, and Sourcing Decision Authority for insourcing. Dr. Oliver also saw the temporary housing program during the Hurricanes Katrina and Rita emergency responses. In this capacity, Dr. Oliver managed the $5 billion effort that resulted in the installation of 152,000 temporary housing units and the design and construction of over 200 temporary housing group sites scattered along the Gulf Coast. Prior to this, Dr. Oliver was the Director of the Mitigation Division’s Risk Management Branch where he oversaw numerous mitigation programs, including the development of HAZUS, FEMA’s lost estimation model. In recognition of his service to FEMA and the nation, Dr. Oliver has twice been awarded the FEMA’s Administrator’s Gold Medal Award, the highest recognition awarded by FEMA. In 2008; he was also awarded the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Secretary’s Award of Excellence.
In March 2001, Dr. Oliver accepted an SES appointment at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) where he served as the Executive Director of the newly formed Office of Crisis Planning and Management within the Office of the Secretary. In this position, Dr. Oliver served as USDA’s national security, emergency management and personnel security lead. Dr. Oliver was the primary point-of-contact with the intelligence Community (IC) and served as USDA’s Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Control Officer, coordinating USDA’s counterintelligence activities domestic and overseas, oversaw the operations of USDA’s Secured Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), and successfully established information technology connectivity with the IC through the installation of Intelink. As part of his emergency management duties, Dr. Oliver oversaw USDA’s Continuity of Operations (COOP) and Continuity of Government (COG) programs and oversaw USDA’s response to the 9/11 attacks. For his efforts, he twice earned the USDA Secretary’s Award for coordinating USDA’s response to the events of September 11, 2001 and the potential U.S. outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease. In February 2003, Dr. Oliver returned to FEMA.
Dr. Oliver began his federal career in 1991 as a Senior Engineer in FEMA’s Federal Insurance Administration where he focused on improving the nation’s reliance to flooding. Except for the two year period Dr. Oliver was with USDA, he has spent the remainder of his federal career here at FEMA.
Dr. Oliver is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland University College in the undergraduate Public Safety Administration (PSA) and the graduate Homeland Security Management programs. In this capacity, in addition to serving as a course instructor, Dr. Oliver serves as a Course Chair where he overseeing the content and delivery of numerous PSA courses. Dr. Oliver also serves as a Faculty Mentor in the PSA Workplace Learning program. Dr. Oliver is the recipient of the 2016 UMUC Professional Achievement Award which recognizes faculty who expand their horizons professionally and academically.
Dr. Oliver is recognized by DHS and the Federal Acquisition Council as a Certified Acquisition Professional, both as a Senior Program Manager – Information Technology Level III and Contracting Officer’s Representative Level III. In addition, Dr. Oliver is recognized by the International Association of Emergency Managers as a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) and by the Disaster Recovery Institute International (DRII) as a Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP). Dr. Oliver possesses a Bachelor of Science in Geology and Master of Science in Engineering Management both from the University of Maryland and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Business Administration with a specialization in Homeland Security Leadership and Policy from Northcentral University.