Alberto Oliart


Alberto Carlos Oliart Saussol is a Spanish politician and executive.

Biography

Born on 29 July 1928 in Mérida, he earned a Licentiate degree in Law at the University of Barcelona in 1950 and, 3 years later, in 1953, he joined the State Lawyers Corps, serving as such until 1965, when he was appointed as Chief Administrative and Finance Officer of Renfe. He rejoined the State Lawyers Corps in 1964.
He was also member of the board of directors of the, Explosivos Río Tinto, Río Tinto Minera and Barral Editores.
Appointed as Minister of Industry and Energy by Adolfo Suárez, Oliart was sworn in on 4 July 1977, leaving the post in February 1978. Later in the year, Oliart joined the Union of the Democratic Centre in December 1978 and ran as candidate to the Congress of Deputies, 2nd in the UCD list for the 1979 general election in the constituency of Badajoz. Elected member of the 1st Congress of Deputies, he chaired the Committee on Defense of the Lower House from May 1979 to September 1980, when he was appointed Minister of Health and Social Security.
Some days after the 23-F, on 26 February 1981, he was appointed as Minister of Defence in the new cabinet presided by Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo, serving in such capacity until 1982.
After leaving politics he returned to lawmaking, activity he combined with stockbreeding in his native Extremadura.
He was appointed as President of RTVE in 2009. Proposed as consensus candidate between the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and the People's Party as he had to be ratified by a 2/3 qualified majority in the Congress of Deputies, the appointment was questioned on the basis of the age of the octogenarian candidate and his lack of media training. He resigned in July 2011, and, given the upcoming general election for December 2011, the post was temporarily left vacant for a time.

Decorations