Hero of Ukraine Oleg Oliva heads Ukrainian Veterans Fund

The Ukrainian Veterans Fund is now headed by Hero of Ukraine Oleg Oliva.

For him, this appointment marked a new stage in his professional development and an opportunity to work on systemic solutions in the field of veteran policy.

Oleg Oliva is a veteran, career military officer and Hero of Ukraine.

For many years, his professional career was linked to service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

After school, he entered the military academy, where he studied at the faculty of training specialists in the management of airborne assault troops.

After graduation, he began serving as a platoon commander.

He later became a company commander and then deputy battalion commander.

At various times, he had dozens and even hundreds of military personnel under his command.

Oleg Oliva began his combat service in 2019 in the Luhansk region.

He spent his first rotations in the Shchastya area.

Later, he served on the Svitlodarsk arc and near Zaitseve.

He encountered a full-scale invasion in the Luhansk region, near Bilovodsk, where his unit was providing cover for the state border.

He subsequently fought on various sections of the front line.

In particular, he took part in battles near Rubizhne, Severodonetsk, in the Izyum direction, as well as in battles for Lyman and Sviatohirsk.

After completing his military service, Oleg Oliva began to seek his path in civilian life.

He then joined the veteran community.

In particular, he worked as a specialist supporting veterans in his community in the Lviv region.

It was there, in his daily work with people, that he saw the problems veterans face after returning from service.

Oleg Oliva noted that after returning to civilian life, people often do not know where to go next.

According to him, this is why it is important for him to help veterans find their way, in particular by starting their own businesses.

He sees supporting veteran entrepreneurship as one of the key areas of the foundation's work.

He said that many veterans want to start their own businesses after serving, but often face a lack of financial resources or business experience.

The foundation also plans to focus on developing employment platforms for veterans.

These include the Veteran Career and Veteran Job platforms.

In his opinion, the issue of employment after service remains one of the key issues for the veteran community.

He named psychological support for veterans and their families as another important area of focus.

Olyva noted that after service, both veterans themselves and their loved ones often need professional help.

At the same time, he stressed that the foundation's work should be based on the development of existing mechanisms and a careful analysis of the needs of the veteran community.

According to him, the fund's task is to develop existing mechanisms, improve processes, analyse veterans' problems and find solutions.

He also noted that even if the fund cannot resolve all issues on its own, it can be an important element of a system that helps find such solutions.

Oleg Oliva plans to apply the management experience he gained during his service to the work of the fund.

According to him, he is used to taking responsibility for his decisions.

He also stressed that in the military, people's lives often depend on such decisions, and managing processes and people is an area he knows well.

Today, he is transferring this military, managerial and veteran experience to the work of the Ukrainian Veterans Fund.

The article separately emphasises that the fund is headed by a person who is well aware of the challenges of returning to civilian life and understands the needs of the veteran community from his own experience.