Oliver Waterman Larkin (August 17, 1896 – December 17, 1970) was an American art historian and educator.
He won the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for History for his book Art and Life in America.
He grew up in Medford, and later in Georgetown, Massachusetts, where in 1914 he graduated with honors from the Perley Free School.
He won several scholarships as an undergraduate and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in his senior year.
He served in the United States Army from 1918 to 1919 during World War I, as a private in the Medical Corps of the 73d Infantry Regiment.
During this time he also directed plays and designed scenery for Lincoln House in Boston.
He was inclined to teach on account of his father and encouraged by his art teachers at Harvard.
[4] Oliver W. Larkin died in Northampton, Massachusetts on December 17, 1970, after a long illness.