Leslie Osborn | Commissioner of Labor

Leslie Osborn was elected as Oklahoma's twentieth Labor Commissioner in 2018 and is currently serving a four year term.  The Constitution of Oklahoma provides for the election of a commissioner of labor every four years. The commissioner is head of the Department of Labor.  Oklahoma law gives the commissioner broad regulatory authority and enforcement powers to carry out the department's duties for citizens of Oklahoma.

Prior to being elected Labor Commissioner she served ten years in the Oklahoma House of Representatives representing District 47, which includes parts of Canadian and Grady counties.  During her tenure she was appointed in 2013 by Speaker Shannon to chair the Judiciary committee, the first female in state history to do so.  In the same year, she authored the landmark workers’ compensation reform bill which changed the judicial system to an updated administrative system.  In 2017 she was instrumental in passing into law the first pay for success contract in Oklahoma, which was a public-private partnership with the Department of Corrections and the Kaiser Foundation to move women from incarceration to the Women in Recovery Program. From 2014 to 2015 she served as chair of the House appropriations and budget subcommittee on Natural Resources and Regulatory Services.  In 2016, then Representative Osborn was appointed by Speaker McCall to chair the House Appropriations and Budget Committee, again the first Republican female to do so. 

She currently also serves as the chair of the Oklahoma Occupational Licensing Advisory Commission and the Department of Commerce’s Automotive Steering Committee, which is actively working on recruitment of diversified manufacturing businesses to the state of Oklahoma. In addition, she serves on the advisory board of Oklahoma Small Business Development Centers and the Oklahoma Academy. She also serves on the foundation board for the Canadian Valley Technology Center. She is a member of Oklahoma First Ladies and a lifetime member of the OSU Alumni association.  She graduated from the Leadership Oklahoma Class 27 and served as the state director of the national group Women in Government.

Leslie Osborn was born in Salina, Kansas. In 1986, she graduated from Oklahoma State University receiving a Bachelor of Science in business administration.  She owned and operated her own business for 22 years selling heavy duty truck parts, Osborn Pick-Up Accessories.  She is the mother of two children.