924 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 79 PART 6 NOVEMBER 2021
The Honourable Judge Oliver Fleck
Working with Oliver Fleck at the Crown Counsel
office was always a pleasure. He was the calm in the
storm, the voice of reason and the quiet decision
maker. He was wise and reasonable in the face of
drama and strong advocacy. He possesses all the
attributes a judge should possess.
Oliver came to the Crown Counsel office after an
interesting beginning. He grew up in North Vancouver
and completed law school in Seattle, Washington. He then went to London,
U.K. and completed his master’s of law in international law (with
merit) in 2008 at the University of London.
Oliver went on to work for the Department of International Affairs in
Geneva as a diplomat, legal officer and trade negotiator to the United
Nations and World Trade Organization. He also worked in the Naval Reserve,
specializing in surface warfare operations. He balanced that work with volunteering
in community law offices and with sports teams as a coach.
In 2010, Oliver married the love of his life, Carolynn. Anyone who has met
Carolynn knows she is a wonderful partner for Oliver, a thoughtful and decisive
woman. As such, she chose Oliver as a “prospect” on their first date, a golf
game she arranged. She did this as a test of who Oliver was and watched carefully
as they played their round. How would he respond to losing a ball in the
forest or to managing an amazing putt? Would he be temperamental or an
overly competitive partner in their golf game? As Carolynn described it,
Oliver passed with flying colours—no temper tantrums, no crowing over a successful
hole. He was a calm, methodical, polite player and a joy to be around.
Carolynn’s advice is if you want to know about a person, take them golfing. It
certainly has proved successful for them.
Oliver took on Crown counsel work in 2012, heading to Fort St. John
despite having never been there before. Carolynn had the grace to go along,
transferring in her work to support him. Oliver describes meeting the then-
Regional Crown, Oleh Kuzma, Q.C., and being impressed with Oleh’s passion
for Crown work and decisive nature. He knew working in the North as
a criminal lawyer (though he had no criminal experience at that point) was
what he wanted to do. He began as a trial lawyer in Fort St. John, conducting
many serious prosecutions, and became the Administrative Crown
Counsel in 2014.