[1] Born 12 February 1912 in Halifax, Yorkshire, the third child and second son of John Henry Whitley and his wife Margherita.
Like his father, Oliver was a boarder in Wiseman's House, Clifton College where he was resident between 1925 and 1930.
He read history and law at New College, Oxford and qualified as a barrister.
[2] He married Elspeth Catherine Forrester-Paton in May 1939; the couple had four sons and one daughter.
He had a long and influential career, much of which was with the External Services[2][4] He retired in 1972, with his wife, to Oban.