During his time as head of Jersey, he negotiated its purchase of 30 per cent of the Arabian-American Oil Company and its outright acquisition of Humble.

Eugene Holman was born in San Angelo but grew up in Monahans, where his parents ran a hotel in their house.

In 1918, he enlisted in the United States Army and served for a year in the aerial photography division of the Signal Corps.

[4] After he left the Army, Holman joined the United States Geological Survey for a short time and worked in Washington, D.C., Oklahoma, and Texas.

In February 1929, Standard transferred Holman to its head office in New York where he was made an assistant to the vice-president in charge of crude oil production.

Early in his time with Jersey, Holman became interested in crude oil production in South America and spent most of the 1930s as an executive of affiliate companies in this region.

As head of these affiliate companies, Holman placed an emphasis on employee relations and prioritized the hiring of foreign nationals wherever possible.

At the beginning of 1954, Holman succeeded Frank W. Abrams as chairman of the board, and was replaced as president by Monroe J. Rathbone.

Until 1940 Holman voted for the Democratic Party, but that year supported Republican candidate Wendell Willkie for president.

On November 21, 1923, at the Main Street Methodist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana, Holman married Edith Carver Reid (1902–1975).