Jennifer OLEGERIIL

Jennifer S. Olegeriil
Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice
Republic of Palau
Biography
Jennifer S. Olegeriil was sworn into office to hold the post of Minister of Justice on 19 May 2025
under the Presidency of His Excellency Surangel Whipps, Jr. As the Minister of Justice, she is
responsible for providing legal services to the Government and to its agencies and political
subdivisions, promoting and protecting the safety and peace of the public, and maintaining
order and enforcing all laws. In her role, she coordinates the activities of the Ministry with
appropriate authorities, boards, commissions and public corporations. As the Minister, she is
responsible for the performance of the duties of the Bureau of Public Safety and its divisions,
headed by a Bureau Director; the Office of the Attorney General, headed by the Attorney
General; and the Office of Professional Standards.
Minister of Justice Olegeriil holds top leadership level that provides the overarching
management and leadership of the national police force, which includes primary 911
emergency first response and investigations; fire response and Emergency Medical Services and
ambulatory transport; felony criminal investigations, including illegal drug activities, human
trafficking, and transnational crimes; maritime security; and oversees the management of the
nation’s penal institution. This position sits on the Presidential Cabinet as the top management
official for the national security and law enforcement for Palau and all relevant jurisdiction. Her
post oversees over 160 personnel, the majority of which are sworn police officers, detailed to
the different divisions and sections of the national Police Organization to work collaboratively
to meet the mandates of the Ministry of Justice, established by law.
Prior to her appointment to this Ministerial role, she held the position for the Director for the
Department of Conservation and Law Enforcement (DCLE) for Koror State Government,
Republic of Palau. Amongst her tasks and responsibilities in this Directorship, she was the
designated Site Manager for the Koror Rock Islands Southern Lagoon (RISL), which inscribed
1,002 square kilometers of its marine jurisdiction unto the UNESCO World Heritage (WH) Site
List in 2012 as a Mixed Site (natural & cultural site). For over 13 years, she was responsible for
the overall management and operations for the effective and successful management of
systems and processes that oversee the different primary areas, key to the management to this
site, which provides the primary economic and revenue stream for Palau, and is recognized as
the primary tourism epicenter for Palau.
Professionally, she has played key roles in leadership for over 30 years, serving in various
capacities on matters related to law enforcement and security; climate change; sustainable

tourism; historical/cultural preservation; fisheries; and resource management. Her experience
and expertise has enabled her to develop frameworks and policies at both national and state
level.
Minister Olegeriil holds a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Sociology from California State University,
Chico. She began her career path under the Palau National Police Force in 1992 and became the
first female Deputy Director/Deputy Police Commissioner for the National Police Force in 2008.
In 2013, she transitioned her professional career for conservation and management to
undertake policy and regulatory development and frameworks for the environment. Her
extended career spans across a range of over 65 trainings, some of which include two (2) stints
in the National Development Course in Taiwan, where she was elected by her peers as the Class
President in her first enrollment; intense and high level on-campus course in Comprehensive
Crisis Management in Hawaii at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS);
addressing Institutional Impediments to Inclusion in Security, Mongolia in an extended campus
for APCSS; and the Pacific Police Women’s Leadership Training in Australia. One of her most
distinct educational achievement is her attainment of a Graduate-Level Diploma in Executive
Leadership and Police Management, earning certification from the highest leadership
institution for Police Executive Leadership and Police Management in the Oceania Region at
the esteemed Australian Institute of Police Management (AIPM) in Manly, Australia in 2011.
AIPM holds the international reputation as one of the leading educational institutions in the
public safety sector, and is a recognized world leader in the development and delivery of
education and development for individuals and organizations, involved in innovative provisions
of policing, law enforcement, security, public safety, emergency services, and related
professions. Her exemplary performance and leadership skills won special acknowledgment at
this revered institution to being one (1) of the first two (2) Micronesians to be invited as fellows
to enroll and successfully complete such a high-level training, developed only for senior-ranking
and executive officers for police organization in Oceania since its establishment in the early
1960’s.
Minister Olegeriil is an expert strategist and under her guidance, she has completed, in
succession, numerous updates on management plans for key resource areas for Koror State,
and the wider-Palau community, which addresses the provision of security measures and law
enforcement against the threats of climate change, over-tourism, over-fishing, and other
related areas.
Her leadership and innovative thinking, and her passion and commitment has greatly pushed
Palau’s environmental agenda at the regional and global stage to attain technical and funding
support as well as recognition of its leadership in environmental protection at both the
domestic front, regionally, and on the international stage. She is a leader and a mentor, skilled
in developing strategic plans that enable systems and processes for efficient teamwork and
measurable outcomes.

In addition to her professional service, Minister Olegeriil is passionate about helping to build
the resiliency of the community towards continued improvement, development and growth.
She has devoted her life to law enforcement and national security at different levels, and in the
different sectors of the community. She is a strong believer in adaptive management, saying,
“You can’t force a fit. If it doesn’t work, tweak it. You have to be flexible and adapt to the
changing winds if you want to be effective.”