High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Ronald Ulysses "Ron" Swanson is a fictional character played by Nick Offerman in the American comedy television series Parks and Recreation on NBC. Ron is parks department director in the Indiana city of Pawnee and the immediate superior of protagonist Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler). Despite holding a government job, Ron is a staunch Libertarian who believes in as little government as possible and feels the parks department should not exist.