In early 2006, Oliva was appointed at the first team following the sacking of Chuchi Cos, being in charge for five games – three wins, one draw and only one loss, against FC Barcelona – before being dismissed himself by eccentric club chairman Dmitry Piterman.
Returned to the third level with CE L'Hospitalet, Oliva led the Catalans to the fourth position in the regular season and the subsequent promotion playoffs, which ended without success.
After a few months in Greece with Aris Thessaloniki FC, he returned to his country and its division three, being one of three managers for Villarreal CF B as the Valencian side finished in midtable.
Oliva returned to the top flight in 2008–09, acting as assistant for Manolo Zambrano's successor Lucas Alcaraz as Recreativo de Huelva[2] finally ranked in the 20th and last position.
On 6 December 2010, Oliva joined Gimnàstic de Tarragona of the second division, replacing the dismissed Luis César Sampedro as the team ranked in last position.