Senior Vice President, Ogilvy Government Relations

John O’Neill is a Senior Vice President at Ogilvy Government Relations. Mr. O'Neill counsels clients on a wide array of legislative and public policy issues with a heavy focus on tax, health care, insurance and financial services, and pension, employee benefit and compensation matters.

Mr. O'Neill brings deep experience both in public service and in representing clients before the Legislative and Executive Branches of our government. In the 110th Congress, Mr. O’Neill served as Policy Director and Counsel in the Senate Minority Whip's Office under Senator Trent Lott. In this capacity, he helped develop and coordinate the Republican Leadership floor strategy for all legislation considered by the U.S. Senate, provided counsel to Senator Lott on policy matters and legislation, and worked closely with Senate Committee and Member offices, senior White House and Executive Branch officials, and House Leadership offices.

Before his tenure in the Whip Office, Mr. O' Neill served for several years as Tax Counsel on the staff of the Senate Finance Committee under Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) where he focused on tax, health care, and pension and benefits policy. In this role, he served as the lead staff person and negotiator for Chairman Grassley on the Pension Protection Act of 2006, the most sweeping rewrite of pension laws since the enactment of ERISA in 1974. During his time at the Finance Committee, Mr. O'Neill also worked extensively on the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005, the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005, and the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, which provided the most significant reform of international and corporate tax laws in two decades.

Immediately prior to joining Ogilvy, Mr. O'Neill served as partner in the law firm of Venable LLP. Earlier in his career, Mr. O'Neill was in private practice with the Washington law firm of Davis & Harman LLP.

Mr. O’Neill received a B.A. from Skidmore College in 1994, and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1999. He has also studied through the Tulane Law School summer program in The Netherlands, and participated in a fellowship program at the House of Parliament.