Born in
Braga, Oliveira started his career with local
S.C. Braga, joining their youth system at the age of 10. Still in his teens, he was bought by
Chelsea for a reported cost of
£500,000, making his
Premier League debut on 19 October 2002 in a 3–0 away win over
Manchester City where he played one minute after coming on as a
substitute for two-time scorer
Gianfranco Zola; however, he never managed to break into the main squad and, during one month, served a spell at
Preston North End. Oliveira played once for the Blues in
2004–05, in the last game against
Newcastle United where he also came off the bench. In the summer of 2005 he was loaned to
C.S. Marítimo, with
Nuno Morais joining in the same situation; after
the season finished, he agreed to be released from his contract and signed with the
Madeira-based club. At the end of
2006–07, which included his only
Primeira Liga goal in a 3–2 away loss against neighbours
C.D. Nacional, Oliveira was released and joined
Leixões SC, recently returned to the
top flight after several decades of absence. In June 2008, after having helped the
Matosinhos team to
retain their status, he returned to Braga now as a senior player, signing a two-year contract. He appeared very rarely throughout his
debut campaign, one of his few chances being a 5–0 win at
C.F. Os Belenenses. After the January 2010 sale of starter
João Pereira to
Sporting CP, Oliveira became the first-choice
right-back. He finished
the season with 17 appearances, as the
Minho side achieved a best-ever second place in the league. In July 2010, Oliveira joined
Parma FC – who paid
K.A.S. Eupen a fee of
€1 million (5% Solidarity Contribution included) – being called up to training camp on the 12th. Two weeks later, he was loaned to fellow Italians
Torino FC for €600,000, with the
Serie B club having an option to buy half of his contract subsequently; he was recalled from his spell in the following
transfer window, only managing one official appearance during his
first year (25 minutes in a 1–1 draw away to
Cagliari Calcio, in
Serie A's last round). In early August 2011, Oliveira was sent on loan to
Videoton FC in Hungary, and the move was made permanent at the end of
the campaign. On 29 May 2015, after contributing 26 games, six goals and 11
assists as the team
won the second
Nemzeti Bajnokság I championship in their history, the 31-year-old renewed his contract for a further two seasons. Oliveira switched countries again on 31 January 2017, joining
Cypriot First Division's
Anorthosis Famagusta FC until the end of
the season. Nearly a year later, having been unemployed for half of that time, he signed for
Sepsi OSK Sfântu Gheorghe who were aiming to stay in Romania's
Liga I. ==International career==