John Walter Denton Oliver (13 April 1918 in

Crook, County Durham Crook is a market town in the district and ceremonial county of County Durham, Northern England. The town is located on the edge of Weardale, therefore is sometimes referred to as the "Gateway to Weardale". The town is in an unparished area, ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

– 1973) was an international

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

rider who qualified for the

Speedway World Championship The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official championsh ...

finals three times.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Championship''. Stroud: Tempus Publishing.

Career summary

Oliver started speedway in 1945 and was given guidance and support from pre war rider Bob Harrison. In 1946 he joined the

Belle Vue Aces The Belle Vue Aces are a British motorcycle speedway, speedway club, based in Manchester. The club hold the record of having won the top tier List of United Kingdom speedway league champions, League championship 13 times. They currently compete ...

. After an impressive first two seasons he was called up to race for

in the 1947-1948 Ashes test series in Australia.Foster, P. (2005) ''History of the Speedway Ashes'', The History Press Ltd. In 1949 Oliver reached the first of his three World final appearances but in 1951 he announced his retirement. In 1951 he was tempted into riding again by the

Bradford Tudors The Odsal Tudors or Bradford Tudors were a motorcycle speedway team based at Odsal Stadium in Bradford from 1950 to 1960.Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). ''Homes of British Speedway''. History At the end of July 1950 the Odsal Tudors replaced ...

. Belle Vue signed him up again at the start of 1952 but he later rejoined the Tudors and remained there until he retired in 1954. He came out of retirement in 1956 to ride nine meetings for the Tudors but again retired. In 1963, at the age of forty-five he returned to racing for the

Sheffield Tigers The Sheffield 'Tru Plant' Tigers are a motorcycle speedway team based in Sheffield, England. They currently race in the British SGB Premiership, and their home meetings take place at Owlerton Stadium. The Tigers traditionally hold their race n ...

in the

Provincial League Provincial League (formerly known as Professional League) also known as Pro League was the old regional Football league in Thailand in 1999–2008. It was founded in 1999 under the name "Provincial League" organized by Sports Authority of Thailan ...

following a call from

Frank Varey Frank Varey (31 March 1908 in Eldwick, England – February 1988 in Sheffield, England) was a former international speedway rider who featured in the Speedway World Championship finals in 1937 and 1938.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A H ...

. He stayed there for two seasons until 1965 when the

used him for a few matches that season. He finally retired at the end of 1965 but remained on the staff at Belle Vue. He became team manager and in 1970, 1971 and 1972 the team won the

British League The British League was the main motorcycle speedway league in Britain from its formation in 1965 until 1995 when British speedway was restructured. It initially had a single division, with a second division starting in 1968 (which was renamed the ...

.Pavey, A. (2004) ''Speedway in the North-West'', Tempus Publishing Ltd. In 1973 Dent suffered a serious deterioration in his health and died in December.

World final appearances

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

- 16th - 0pts * 1950 -

- 11th - 6pts *

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

- Res - 1pt

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Dent 1918 births 1973 deaths British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Belle Vue Aces riders Sheffield Tigers riders