George Oliver (physician)

He was born in Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham, the second son of W. Oliver, a surgeon.

In 1887 he was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and in 1896 delivered their Croonian Lecture on the subject of the circulation of the blood.

In 1904 he founded the Oliver-Sharpey lectureship to promote physiological research by observation and experiment, and to encourage the application of physiological knowledge to the prevention and cure of disease and the prolongation of life[1] (The lectureship was founded in honor of William Sharpey, who was Oliver's physiology professor at University College, London.)

These instruments allowed him in 1893 to observe the effect an extract of sheep's adrenal gland had on human blood vessels.

He continued the study of the glands of internal secretion, especially the suprarenals, in conjunction with Professor Edward Schäfer at University College.