John Oliver (July 31, 1856–August 17, 1927) was a British-Canadian politician and farmer in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Oliver won a seat in the provincial legislature in the 1900 election and became leader of the opposition. He lost his seat in the 1909 election. He returned to the legislature in the 1916 election as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

, and became Minister of Agriculture and Railways in the cabinet of

Harlan Carey Brewster Harlan Carey Brewster (November 10, 1870 – March 1, 1918) was a politician in British Columbia, Canada. Brewster arrived in British Columbia in 1893 and had various careers working on a ship and then in a cannery. He eventually became owner of ...

. Oliver succeeded Brewster to become the 19th

premier of British Columbia Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

when Brewster died in 1918. Oliver's government developed the produce industry in the

Okanagan Valley The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is p ...

, and tried to persuade the federal government to lower the freight rate for rail transport. Oliver also in 1923 hosted the visit of

Warren Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, the first visit of a sitting

United States President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

to Canada in history. Oliver remained premier until his death in 1927.

John Oliver Secondary School John Oliver Secondary School is a public secondary school located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at East 41st Avenue and Fraser Street (between the Vancouver neighbourhoods of Kensington-Cedar Cottage, Riley Park-Little Mountain and Su ...

in Vancouver, British Columbia, John Oliver Park in Delta, BC, Mount John Oliver in the

Premier Range The Premier Range is a group of mountains within the Cariboo Mountains of east-central British Columbia, Canada. The range (also known as the Premier Group) is bounded by the Raush River and Kiwa Creek to the north, the North Thompson River on th ...

of the

Cariboo Mountains The Cariboo Mountains are the northernmost subrange of the Columbia Mountains, which run down into the Spokane area of the United States and include the Selkirks, Monashees and Purcells. The Cariboo Mountains are entirely within the province of ...

, the town of

Oliver, British Columbia Oliver is a town near the south end of the Okanagan Valley in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, with a population of nearly 5,000 people. It is located along the Okanagan River by Tuc-el-nuit Lake between Osoyoos and Okanagan ...

, and Oliver Street in

Williams Lake, British Columbia Williams Lake is a city in the Central Interior of British Columbia, in the central part of a region known as the Cariboo. Williams Lake is the second largest city, by population of metropolitan area, in the Cariboo after neighbouring Quesnel. ...

, are all named after him.

Electoral history

, John Oliver , align="right", 447 , align="right", 59.13% , align="right", , align="right", unknown , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Total valid votes !align="right", 756 !align="right", 100.00% !align="right", , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Total rejected ballots !align="right", !align="right", !align="right", , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Turnout !align="right", % !align="right", !align="right", ,

, John Oliver , align="right", 430 , align="right", 62.23% , align="right", , align="right", unknown , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Total valid votes !align="right", 691 !align="right", 100.00% !align="right", , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Total rejected ballots !align="right", !align="right", !align="right", , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Turnout !align="right", % !align="right", !align="right", ,

, John Oliver , align="right", 551 , align="right", 41.87% , align="right", , align="right", unknown , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Total valid votes !align="right", 1,316 !align="right", 100.00% !align="right", , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Total rejected ballots !align="right", !align="right", !align="right", , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Turnout !align="right", % !align="right", !align="right", , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=7, ¹ Results of recount as reported in New Westminster Columbian 29 November 1909, p. 1 ,

, John Oliver , align="right", 308 , align="right", 29.17% , align="right", , align="right", unknown , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Total valid votes !align="right", 1,056 !align="right", 100.00% !align="right", , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Total rejected ballots !align="right", !align="right", !align="right", , - bgcolor="white" !align="right" colspan=3, Turnout !align="right", % !align="right", !align="right",

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, John 1856 births 1927 deaths Premiers of British Columbia English emigrants to Canada British Columbia Liberal Party MLAs Leaders of the British Columbia Liberal Party People from Hartington, Derbyshire