[1] He was a visiting student at the University of Bonn for one year (1927/28) and the American Academy in Rome as Jesse R. Carter fellow 1928–30.
[1][2] After his doctorate, he taught at Yale and then served as field epigrapher for the excavations of the Athenian Agora being carried out by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens from 1932 to 1936.
[1] In 1936, Oliver was appointed assistant professor of history at Columbia University and became a member of the managing committee of the American School at Athens in 1938.
[2] Oliver's chief academic interest was the Greek East under the Roman Empire, especially in Athens.
One assessment of his work held that: From the preparation of Greek inscriptions... and papyri, to the editing and annotating of Classical authors... to the analyses of religious and political antiquities of Greece and Rome... the hallmarks of Oliver's work are the same: meticulous collection, careful scrutiny and balanced interpretation of the evidenceHe married Janet Carnochan in Athens on 26 June 1936,[1] and died in Baltimore on 3 April 1981.