R. Spencer Oliver was the first Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly. A lawyer by training, Oliver previously served 22 years as a staff member in the U.S. Congress, including as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Helsinki Commission from 1976 to 1985 and as Chief Counsel of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives until January 1993. He also served in several senior diplomatic positions on U.S. delegations to CSCE Review and Expert Meetings between 1977 and 1993. Long active in Democratic Party politics, Oliver's phone was tapped during Operation Gemstone in the Watergate scandal.