Oliver, Walter Reginald Brook (1883 - 1957)

Summary

Walter Oliver was one of New Zealand's most prolific collectors of flora and fauna. He also wrote numerous classic texts in the fields of botany and ornithology, including the book New Zealand Birds and made significant contributions to the study of mollusca and whales. He was a long-term member, councillor, one-time President and a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute / Royal Society of New Zealand and was heavily involved in other national and international scientific organizations. His first job was as an officer with the New Zealand Customs Department and that saw him help plan an expedition to the Kermadec Islands (1907-1908). This trip resulted in the publication of seven major scientific articles on the island's geology, flora and fauna. When he returned to Christchurch, he continued his own private collection trips. After serving in World War I, Oliver made a short return to the Customs Department, then went on to become Senior Scientific Assistant (1920-1927) and later Director at the Dominion Museum in Wellington (1928-1947). After his retirement in 1947, Oliver continued his own private research and collections.

Details

Chronology

1896

Life event - Migrated to New Zealand with his parents

1900 - 1914

Career position - Officer in the New Zealand Customs Department

1907 - 1908

Career position - Expedition to Sunday Island in the Kermadec Group

1909

Career position - Collection expedition to Chatham Islands (one month)

1910

Career position - Collection expedition to Stewart Island (two month)

1913

Career position - Collection expedition to Lord Howe Island (fifteen days)

1914 - 1918

Military service - War service with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force

1919

Career position - Collection of plants from Tahiti

1919 - 1920

Career position - Senior Officer in the New Zealand Customs Department

1920 - 1927

Career position - Senior Scientific Assistant at the Dominion Museum in Wellington

1924 - 1927

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), Victoria University College

1927 -

Award - Fellow, Royal Society of New Zealand (later renamed the Royal Society of New Zealand)

1928 - 1947

Career position - Director of the Dominion Museum

1929 - 1933

Career position - Member of the Board of Governors of the New Zealand Institute / Royal Society of New Zealand

1930

Career position - New Zealand Birds published

c. 1931

Education - Master of Science (MSc), Victoria University College

1934

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of New Zealand

1934 - 1956

Career position - Council member of the New Zealand Institute / Royal Society of New Zealand

1936

Award - Hector Memorial Medal and Prize

1937 - 1938

Award - Carnegie Corporation travel grant - to study developments in museums overseas

1939

Career position - British Empire member of the British Ornithologists' Union

1943 - 1944

Career position - President, Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union

1947

Life event - Retired

1948

Career position - Relieving Director of the Canterbury Museum

1949

Career position - Collection expedition to Fiordland

1950

Award - Hutton Memorial Medal

1952 - 1954

Career position - President, Royal Society of New Zealand

1956

Career position - Collection expedition to Norfolk Island

Published resources

Books

• Whittell, H. M., The Literature of Australian Birds: a History and a Bibliography of Australian Ornithology (Perth: Patterson Brokensha, 1954), 140, 788 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Dell, R. K., 'Oliver, Walter Reginald Brook 1883-1957' in Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, vol. 4 (1998). Details

Journal Articles

• Pitt, F. D. H., 'The botanical collecting trips of W. R. B. Oliver', National Museum of New Zealand Records, 2 (1982), 65-79. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q2033290. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/47010596. Details
• 'Oliver, W R B (1883-1957)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1038832. Details

See also

• Robin, Libby, The Flight of the Emu: a Hundred Years of Australian Ornithology 1901-2001 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2001), 492 pp. Details
• Oliver, Walter Reginald Brook (Australia-New Zealand 1883-1957), Some Biogeographers, Evolutionists and Ecologists: Chrono-Biographical Sketches, http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/chronob/OLIV1883.htm. Details