Dr. Steven Olive, a U.S. Senior Foreign Service Officer with the rank of Minister Counselor, leads the USAID Mission for India and Bhutan since September 2024. In this role, Dr. Olive oversees programs that advance the U.S.-India partnership in achieving shared regional and global development priorities. He also promotes U.S.-Bhutan collaboration on critical challenges, including climate change, food security, and inclusive economic growth.
Previously, Dr. Olive served as the Mission Director for the Regional Development Mission for Asia based in Bangkok, where he led efforts to support U.S. government priorities in achieving a free and open, connected, prosperous, resilient, and secure Indo-Pacific, especially in the Mekong and Southeast Asia region. He worked closely with the Thai Government in developing trilateral partnerships in the region, and also oversaw USAID’s development programs with ASEAN.
From 2018 to 2020, he was posted in Washington as the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for USAID’s Latin America and Caribbean Bureau, serving extensively as the Acting Assistant Administrator addressing regional issues related to governance, health and education, migration, climate and environment, and economic empowerment especially among women and vulnerable groups. A year prior, he also served as the Director of the Foreign Service Center (Acting) at USAID’s Office of Human Capital and Talent Management.
At USAID/Kenya and East Africa based in Nairobi, he served as the Deputy Mission Director for Somalia from 2014 to 2017. He often served as the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge for the U.S. Mission to Somalia where he led efforts to re-establish U.S. diplomatic presence in the country.
From 2011 to 2014, Dr. Olive also served as a Deputy Mission Director for USAID/Haiti, leading post-earthquake reconstruction and development efforts. He also was posted in Peru and Nicaragua from 2002-2011, managing environment, trade, agriculture, food security, and emergency response programs.
Before joining USAID in 2000, Dr. Olive worked in Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, and American Samoa as an environment and natural resource management and policy specialist. He earned a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Hawaii where he was an East-West Center scholar, a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Tennessee, and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from Miami (Ohio) University.