Oliver Wise joined the Bloomberg Center for Government Excellence (GovEx) at Johns Hopkins University as Executive Director in September 2025, after a wide-ranging career leading public sector use of data and artificial intelligence at the local and federal level.

Beginning in 2022, Wise served as the Chief Data Officer for the U.S. Department of Commerce, leading major data governance programs including strategies focused on AI and open data. For over a year, he also served as the Acting Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, overseeing the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Earlier in his career, Wise launched and served as the director of New Orleans’ Office of Performance and Accountability, setting new standards for leveraging data to set goals, track performance, and drive results for city residents. He spearheaded BlightSTAT, a tool to track the city’s blight reduction strategy, contributing to a reduction of more than 10,000 blighted units, earning national recognition, including What Works Cities certification, and multiple awards for innovation in governance.