Olivier Jarda BCL, JD

Olivier Jarda specializes in Indigenous rights and Aboriginal law, with a focus on governance, treaty implementation, language rights, and environmental, climate, health, and social policy.

Olivier has represented and advised Indigenous governments, national and regional Indigenous organizations, treaty organizations, and Indigenous communities.

Olivier served as Director of Policy and Legal Affairs to Canada’s Minister of Infrastructure and Communities and as Policy Advisor to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. In these roles he helped develop government policies and several pieces of legislation, including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

Olivier previously worked as a Policy Associate at the Center for International Policy in Washington DC, where his focus was climate and environmental policy.

Olivier received his JD and BCL from McGill University’s Faculty of Law. He holds an MPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. 

Olivier is called to the bar in Québec, Ontario and the Northwest Territories.