Don Oliver

Donald Carthew Oliver OBE (16 April 1937 – 26 February 1996) was a New Zealand weightlifter[1] and fitness centre founder.

For the Canadian senator, see Donald Oliver.
For the New Zealand rugby union player, see Don Oliver (rugby union).

Don Oliver
OBE
Personal information
Birth nameDonald Carthew Oliver
Born(1937-04-16)16 April 1937
Died26 February 1996(1996-02-26) (aged 58)
Auckland, New Zealand
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight124 kg (273 lb; 19 st 7 lb)
Sport
CountryNew Zealand
SportWeightlifting
Medal record
British Empire and Commonwealth Games
1966 Kingston110 kg
1962 Perth110 kg

He won the gold medal at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in the men's 110 kg division. At the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games he won the silver medal in the same division.[2]

He represented New Zealand at three Olympic Games in the heavyweight division. At the 1960 Summer Olympics Oliver lifted a combined weight of 425 kgs and finished in 13th place, four years later in Tokyo at the 1964 Summer Olympics he lifted 480 kgs and finished in 9th place, in his last Olympics Oliver had his best finish lifting 490 kgs and finishing in 8th place at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico, where he was also the flagbearer.[3]

At the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, Oliver was the New Zealand weightlifting team coach.[4]

Oliver was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1981 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to weightlifting and the community. He owned six gyms in Auckland and started his own brand of fitness equipment.[5] He was a personal trainer to several All Blacks, including Michael Jones, Eroni Clarke, Va'aiga Tuigamala and Craig Dowd.[4]

He died of cancer in Auckland in 1996.[4][6]

References
  1. Profile at sports-reference.com Archived 2012-10-24 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Profile at the New Zealand Olympic Committee website
  3. "Don Oliver". olympedia.org. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  4. Logan, Innes (25 February 1996). "Cancer blow for weightlifting Don". Sunday News. p. 53.
  5. The Aucklander - Grapple skills turn rivals upside down
  6. "Former weightlifting champ dies". The Dominion. 27 February 1996. p. 22.
Awards
Preceded by
Peter Snell		 Lonsdale Cup of the New Zealand Olympic Committee
1965		 Succeeded by
Valerie Young
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