Department of Economics

Tony Oliver

  • Graduated: 2006
  • Field: Environment

Tony Oliver, who graduated in 2006 with a BA in Economics and the Departments Service Award, is an economist at the California Air Resources Board in Sacramento, California.   While at Chico State he helped support himself by working for Kragen Auto Parts as assistant manager during his junior and senior years.  He was also a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon Economics Honor Society.

After graduation Tony enrolled at Purdue University where he worked as a graduate research assistant for 2 years.  Tony finished his MS in Agricultural Economics in 2008, and moved to the University of Nevada Reno where he was a graduate research and teaching assistant for the next 2 years. 

In 2010 Tony moved from Nevada to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and spent the next 5 years researching the impacts of renewable energy policies, and he developed a model to evaluate the effect of U.S. energy policies on prices, emissions, and social welfare.  He completed his Ph.D in Agricultural and Applied Economics at UIUC in 2015.

After completing his doctorate Tony accepted a position as economist with the South Coast Air Quality Management District in Diamond Bar, California.  He has been working as economist for the California Air Resouces Board since the middle of 2018.

"Environmental economics has been the focus of my career since my interest was first sparked in the subject by courses I took at Chico State.” Tony said in a recent LinkedIn message.  “In particular I would like to thank, Professors Pete Tsournos and David Gallo for introducing me to the subject and encouraging me to further pursue my studies. My education at Chico State prepared me well for graduate school, which led to my current job as an air quality economist, where on a daily basis I apply the analytical and quantitative methods I first started learning there.”  (Last Updated 5/29/20)

Portrait of Tony Oliver