Oliver McPherson-Smith, who led energy policy at the prominent right-wing think tank America First Policy Institute, has been named as the executive director of the White House’s newly created National Energy Dominance Council, according to his LinkedIn page and a person familiar with the move who was granted anonymity to discuss the move that hasn’t been publicly announced.
The White House officially christened the council last month, tasking Interior Secretary Doug Burgum with leading the panel aimed at guiding President Donald Trump’s effort to unleash greater American energy production and cut energy prices. Announced in November, the group suffered from infighting over its leadership, structure and mandate as it was being formed.
McPherson-Smith served as director of the Center for Energy and Environment at AFPI before being tapped to join the White House in January as special assistant to the president for economic policy. Neither he nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment.
McPherson-Smith, who hails from Sydney, Australia, is a former television correspondent in Africa and Europe, according to his AFPI bio. He does not appear to have any prior experience in a U.S. administration or Congress but rose to prominence in the conservative think tank world, serving as a senior fellow at the Adam Smith Institute and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution.
