Francis James "Frank" Oliver (24 December 1948 – 16 March 2014) was a New Zealand
rugby union player and coach. He captained the New Zealand national side, the
All Blacks, in four matches.
Biography
Born in
Dunedin and educated at
Lawrence District High School, Oliver made his provincial rugby debut for
Southland in 1969. He later also played for
Otago
Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...
and
Manawatu, playing a total of 213 first-class games.
Oliver played in the forwards as a
lock and appeared in 43 matches for the All Blacks — 17 of them full test appearances — between 1976 and 1981, captaining the team in four matches. After retiring as a player in 1983, Oliver coached the Manawatu provincial team from 1995 to 1997 and the short-lived
Central Vikings
Central Vikings Rugby Union was a New Zealand rugby union team that played in the second division of the NPC for two seasons in 1997 and 1998. The team, formed from the merger of the Hawke's Bay and Manawatu unions, featured current and future ...
merged team from 1998 to 1999. In
Super Rugby
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...
he coached the (1996–99) and the (2001).
Oliver's son
Anton followed in his father's footsteps, representing both Otago and New Zealand, and being All Blacks' captain.
They are the first
— and so far only — father-and-son combination to have captained the national side.
Outside of rugby, Oliver worked in
forestry, and was running a
sawmill business up until his death in 2014.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Frank
1948 births
2014 deaths
New Zealand international rugby union players
New Zealand rugby union coaches
New Zealand rugby union players
Otago rugby union players
Manawatu rugby union players
Southland rugby union players
Rugby union players from Dunedin
Rugby union locks
People from Milton, New Zealand
Rugby union players from Palmerston North