Olivier Bianchi

Olivier Bianchi (born June 10, 1970, in Paris) is a French politician. A member of the Socialist Party, he has been mayor of Clermont-Ferrand since April 4, 2014 and president of Clermont Auvergne Métropole since April 22, 2014. Bianchi was born on June 10, 1970, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris to a father who was an SNCF agent and a mother who was a childcare worker. He moved around frequently because of his father's profession and lived in different cities (Mende, Marvejols, Sens, Langeac, Le Puy, Aurillac...) before settling in Clermont-Ferrand in 1988 for his law studies. He obtained a master's degree in public law and a degree in political science. He taught as a lecturer at the University of Auvergne for ten years. In 1989 he was president of the Auvergne Club Forum (a club gathering young people close to Michel Rocard, Prime Minister at the time). He participated in the demonstrations against the Contract of Professional Integration; he was then the president of the General Assembly of the students of Clermont-UNEF-ID between 1993 and 1994 in Clermont-Ferrand. Between 1995 and 2001, he was a city councilor in Clermont-Ferrand. In 2008, he was elected vice-president of Clermont Communauté and took part in the cultural development of the Clermont agglomeration. He was president of the Culture Commission of the AdCF (Assembly of French Communities) which he represented at the Council of Local Authorities for Cultural Development (CCTDC) with the Minister of Culture. In March 2008, he was 23rd on the list of Serge Godard, Socialist Party candidate for the mayor of Clermont-Ferrand. After the victory of the latter, he became deputy mayor in charge of cultural policy. To prepare the 2014 municipal election, a primary is organized within the Socialist Party, won by Bianchi. In March 2014, he led the left-wing list in the municipal election; it obtained 31% of the votes cast in the first round, which forced him to merge with the Left Front list (11.5%) to win the second round. The merged list won the election with 47.