Born in China, Oliver was raised in Brisbane, Australia. A graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (PhD), the Royal Northern College of Music (UK, Masters) and the University of Queensland (Bachelor), Oliver has won prizes at the 2010 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year Awards (winner), Australian National Piano Award (1st prize), Brant Birmingham International Piano Competition (1st prize), Beethoven London Intercollegiate Piano Competition (3rd prize), ANU Canberra Chopin International Piano Competition (2nd prize), and the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition (2nd prize).
Oliver has performed widely across Australia and in Japan, South Korea, Britain, Germany and the Netherlands, in venues including the Sydney Opera House, London’s Wigmore Hall, Birmingham Town Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre, the Polish Embassy in Canberra, and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
He has made appearances with the Sydney Symphony, Queensland Symphony, West Australian Symphony and RNCM Symphony Orchestras, as well as in festivals including Bath (UK), Musica Viva, the Australian Piano Duo Festival, Utzon Music Series, Byron Music Society, Tyalgum Festival, and the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference. His performances have been broadcast on ABC Classic FM and 4MBS Classic FM.
In 2011, Oliver was invited as guest artist to perform a recital at Parliament House in Canberra in the presence of then-Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard. The same year, he performed the Australian premiere of Elena Kats-Chernin’s Double Concerto “Selenite City” with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
Oliver has many years of experience teaching students of all ages and levels. Many of his students have been successful in AMEB and other piano exams. In September 2021, Oliver joined the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University as a specialist tutor in piano. He formerly held a Junior Fellowship position at the Royal Northern College of Music.
In his early years, Oliver won every section of the Queensland Piano Competition, as well as many first prizes in the Yamaha Australia Youth Piano Competition, Queensland Youth Music Awards, ASKM Piano Competition, Brisbane Eisteddfod, Redlands Eisteddfod and the Wynnum-Manly Eisteddfod. He received High Distinctions in AMEB exams for all grades and was awarded the Hugh Brandon Memorial Scholarship in 2005.
Oliver was awarded his PhD by the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University in July 2022. His former teachers have been Natasha Vlassenko, Graham Scott, Max Olding, Pamela Page, and Ling-zi Li.