Romeo Oliva was born in Vallo della Lucania, in the province of Salerno, in 1889, and entered in the Italian Naval Academy in Livorno in 1907, graduating in 1911 with the rank of ensign.

[1] In 1913-1914 he served with the rank of sub-lieutenant on the armored cruiser Marco Polo, stationed in China, after which he was assigned the Regia Marina detachment in Beijing until 24 May 1915, the date of Italy's entry into World War I.

[2][1] On 24 April 1943 he left the submarine service and was appointed commander of the 7th Naval Division (with flag on the light cruiser Eugenio di Savoia), replacing Admiral Alberto Da Zara.

[3] The ships (light cruisers of the 7th and 8th Naval Divisions) would sail from Genoa, making a stop in La Maddalena (Sardinia) to deceive the enemy about their true intentions, and then shelling the ports of Palermo and Bona.

When a German air attack, on that afternoon, sank the battleship Roma, causing the death of Admiral Bergamini, Oliva found himself to be the most senior officer left in the squadron, and therefore took command, taking responsibility and the task of fulfilling the armistice orders.

[9][1] Off the Algerian coast he met the Allied naval squadron carrying Admiral Andrew Browne Cunningham and General Dwight Eisenhower; the Italian fleet then headed for Malta, where it arrived on 11 September.