William Jesse Oliver (January 13, 1867 – March 28, 1925) was an American industrialist who operated one of the nation's most successful contracting firms in the early 20th century.

Along with industrial endeavors, Oliver was engaged in civic and political affairs in his adopted hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee.

Oliver and Company, based in Langley, South Carolina, aggressively sought regional railroad construction contracts throughout the 1890s.

[7] In 1899, his company won contracts for the Sumter and Wateree River Railroad in South Carolina and an extension of the Southern Railway in the vicinity of Augusta, Georgia.

[11] In September 1904, he organized the William J. Oliver Manufacturing Company,[12] which built a massive machineworks on Dale Avenue in Knoxville.

Described as the largest of its kind in the South, this plant produced railroad, mining and construction equipment, as well as metal castings and foundry supplies.

[17] President Theodore Roosevelt initially accepted Oliver's bid, though Bangs was eliminated from the partnership due to a conflict of interest.

In a message wired to Secretary of War William Howard Taft, Stevens stated Oliver lacked the "nature, experience, or achievement" necessary to complete such a massive project.

Finding Oliver's men in control of the proceedings, a "battle royal" ensued, with delegates exchanging punches and throwing chairs and other stray objects at one another.

[23] Using "regular football tactics," the Evans men managed to push their way onto the platform, but were promptly accosted by Oliver's henchmen.

Sanders, his "coat and hat gone, his shirt split and ragged, and even his trousers badly disarranged," was carried out onto the veranda and nearly thrown over the side.

The following day, the Evans faction held its own convention and elected its own slate of delegates, including Hale as national committeeman.

[11] He once stated that "conservatism belongs to the man who has money invested in government bonds, and only has sufficient brains to play ping-pong.

[24] In 1907, Oliver established what would eventually become the Smoky Mountain Railroad, but was initially named the Knoxville, Sevierville and Eastern Railway.

Construction on the initial phase of the railroad, which connected the South Knoxville neighborhood of Vestal with Sevierville, began in June 1908, and was completed by January 1910.

Gilmour stated that as he tried to speak, Oliver's men blasted him with a fire hose, and afterward attacked him and knocked him unconscious.

[28] In October 1918, federal authorities seized Oliver's factory, and he and nine subordinates were arrested and charged with sabotage, fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the government for manufacturing defective artillery shells.

[24][31] In 1920, Oliver was badly injured when he was hit by a truck near his home on Kingston Pike in Knoxville, and never fully recovered.