Oliver ran in the Toronto riding of Eglinton—Lawrence in the 2008 election, but lost to the longtime Liberal incumbent, Joe Volpe.

[10] In January 2015, Oliver announced that the budget would not be tabled until April, instead of the usual February to March, because of economic uncertainty caused by the rapid drop in oil prices.

[12] During the 2015 Canadian federal election, Canada was officially declared to be in a recession and fellow cabinet minister Jason Kenney, who unlike Oliver, was running in a safe riding, was the primary Conservative spokesperson on the economy.

[13] Meanwhile, Oliver kept a low profile: he cancelled two speaking events in Toronto, one at a men's club, discreetly attended a G20 conference in Turkey, and focused on winning his riding.

[16] Oliver announced in October 2016 that he was seeking the nomination of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in York Centre for the 2018 provincial election.

Source: Elections Canada Oliver is on the board of directors of the High Arctic Energy Services, Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), and the Manning Centre,[20] and he is chairman of PlantExt, a medical cannabis firm in Israel.