Oliver studied at Wrekin College and Adams 6th Form. After working at a local potato farm during his holidays he joined the Midlands News at the age of 22. After the bitter blow of foot and mouth disease, Oliver sees the rural community of North Shropshire recovering and changing.

“The rural community is slowly pulling itself together again after the devastating consequences of foot and mouth. I interviewed a lot of farmers in the crisis who had to see their whole stock culled. I am still in touch with some. Working in the villages is part of my job and I see everything that was shut coming back to life again. There are a lot of stories of post offices in rural areas closing, but there are a lot of interesting new ideas to get facilities back into the villages. There was a massive amount of community spirit in the villages when people pulled together for the Golden Jubilee. Everyone got involved including the newcomers on the new estates.

"My own job is incredibly demanding and challenging because of the sheer workload of local news. People expect the Advertiser to cover everything. I personally cover news, sport and features. The paper covers everything in the community from obituaries to weddings! We cover the meetings of the 12 parish councils and all the public meetings of the town council, as well as village clubs, schools and WI’s."