Margaret Oliver

Margaret Oliver (born 23 October 1955) is an English former Detective Constable with the Greater Manchester Police. She is known as a whistleblower for exposing the cover up of the Rochdale child sex abuse ring case by her own force.

Law enforcement career Oliver joined the Greater Manchester Police in 1997 as a police constable. She remained with the force until her resignation in March 2013 in response to the handling of the Rochdale child sex abuse ring.

Exposing Rochdale child sex abuse ring Operation Augusta in Hulme and Rusholme

As a detective constable, Oliver worked on the Rochdale child sex abuse ring case for the Greater Manchester Police. She claims that the convictions that were made in the Rochdale child sex abuse ring of 9 men in early 2012 barely scratched the surface of what she describes as a highly-organised crime group of hundreds of perpetrators against countless young victims. When Oliver started investigating the sex abuse ring, she had worked for the police force since 1997. One of the girls that was abused by suspects in Operation Augusta died in Rochdale.

In Operation Augusta, 16 child victims and 97 perpetrators were identified—of which 3 were taken to court. Greater Manchester Police accepted the report and apologised to the victims "who have been denied justice" and stated that it had established a major investigation team to look again at the abuse of Victoria and the other girls in 2004. Oliver did so with the intention of speaking out about the mishandling of the cases and of informing the public. She also acted as a consultant for the series.

Oliver appeared in Celebrity Big Brother 21, entered on day 1 and was evicted on day 18.

Activism Oliver founded the Maggie Oliver Foundation for the survivors of the Rochdale abuse scandal. The mission of the foundation is to "transform pain into power." The foundation is planning on opening a network of "Maggie Oliver Centres" for women. It is intended to be run by volunteers and survivors of the scandal. In the house support will be given to those who have been affected by sexual abuse. They will receive help to access support, legal advice, therapy, training and education.

Works Oliver, Margaret (2019). Survivors: One Brave Detective's Battle to Expose the Rochdale Child Abuse Scandal. [John Blake]; (London, UK)