Oliver worked for the
American Civil Liberties Union, as an intervention specialist, and as a chaplain at the Youth Detention Center at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center. In 2015, Oliver was awarded the Artist Human Rights Leader Award by the City of Seattle's Human Rights Commission. Oliver worked for several organizations that opposed homosexuality and maintained policies against hiring homosexuals. This included Seattle's Union Gospel Mission, which argued in federal court that its "anti-gay hiring policy is religious freedom at work". Oliver was also employed at Seattle Pacific University, which has a policy against hiring homosexuals.
2017 mayoral campaign Oliver declared their candidacy for mayor of Seattle in March 2017, expecting to run against incumbent mayor
Ed Murray, though he resigned due to multiple allegations of sexual assault before the election. Oliver announced they would be representing the "Peoples Party of Seattle", a collection of community and civic leaders, lawyers, artists, activists and teachers that began organizing after the 2016 presidential election. At the time, Oliver was a part-time teacher at
Washington Middle School and
Franklin Middle School and provided mostly pro-bono services as an attorney. Oliver also worked for Creative Justice, an arts-based alternative to incarceration. Oliver ran on the Seattle People's Party ballot line, which she intended to grow into a "community-centered, grassroots political party". The SPP is not formally affiliated with the
Movement for a People's Party.
Criminal justice reform efforts Oliver has worked as an organizer for Seattle's No Youth Jail and Black Lives Matter movements. They work as co-director of Creative Justice Northwest, a nonprofit organization that offers programs to youth most impacted by the
school-to-prison pipeline. Following the
murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Oliver helped organize and spoke at numerous protests in Seattle. During a closed-door meeting with Mayor
Jenny Durkan, Police Chief
Carmen Best, and other community leaders, Oliver live-streamed the discussion. Oliver has been an advocate for de-funding the police and civic investment in community-based public health and public safety strategies. Oliver has also spoken about outside spending on local political campaigns. In 2017, Oliver was named one of Seattle's Most Influential Seattlelites by
Seattle Magazine. Oliver co-drafted a resolution for Seattle's divestment from the
Dakota Access Pipeline in 2017. In January 2020, Oliver was featured as the
keynote speaker for the
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration at
Edmonds Community College. They have been featured as a guest lecturer and speaker at the
University of Michigan,
Reed College, the Stanley Ann Dunham Scholarship Fund, KTCS 9,
Pod Save the People, and Town Hall Seattle.
2021 City Council campaign In March 2021, Oliver declared their candidacy for
Seattle City Council position 9,
Detroit Justice Center In July 2022, the Detroit Justice Center announced that Oliver had joined the organization as an Associate Executive Director of Programs & Strategy, and would be relocating to Detroit. However, Oliver and DJC quickly parted ways. ==Personal life==