Sir Oliver Nicholas Millar GCVO FSA FBA (26 April 1923 – 10 May 2007) was a British art historian.
He died instantaneously of a heart attack whilst walking across St James's Square in London having come from an appointment at Christie's to look at a picture by Lely.
In addition to taking responsibility for much of the day-to-day administration of the Royal Collection, Millar also wrote many catalogues and other works.
The Surveyor had historically been a part-time position, under the overall supervision of the Lord Chamberlain since 1625, based at St James's Palace.
Between 1962 and his retirement in 1988, he was responsible for mounting 12 public exhibitions at the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace, attracting almost 2.5 million visitors in all.
These journals, written between 1945 and 2006, as well as Millar's general research papers are kept in the Paul Mellon Centre's archive.
In 2008, the Tate gallery purchased, with the help of the Art Fund, a sketch by Peter Paul Rubens for the Banqueting House ceiling in Whitehall in his memory.
He was a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery from 1972 to 1995, and a member of the Reviewing Committee on Export of Works of Art from 1975 to 1987.
He was also a Visitor at the Ashmolean Museum from 1987 to 1993, Chairman of the Patrons of British Art from 1989 to 1997, and President of the Walpole Society from 1998 to 2007.
The archive includes journals, containing notes Millar made during visits to public and private collections in the UK and abroad, research files on artists including Anthony Van Dyck and Peter Lely, correspondence with art specialists, draft texts for the publication Van Dyck: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings[4] and annotated exhibition catalogues.