Walter Reginald Brook Oliver (7 September 1883 – 16 May 1957) was a New Zealand naturalist, ornithologist, malacologist,[1] and museum curator.

Born in Launceston, Tasmania,[2] Oliver emigrated with his family to New Zealand in 1896, settling in Tauranga.

[3] In 1910, Oliver became a member of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (RAOU) for which body he served as branch secretary for New Zealand from 1914 to his death in 1957, a period of office of 43 years.

Oliver was appointed director of the Dominion Museum in 1928,[4] and in 1930, he published the seminal guide New Zealand Birds, which was updated and expanded in 1955.

He was government representative on the Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand for many years, its president from 1952 to 1954, and editor of its Transactions from 1948 to 1954.