Oliver began his career in Chelmsford, refereeing local matches. He was promoted to Class 2 in 1954 and Class 1 in 1956, after which he was placed on the Linesmen's list of the Football Combination. In a 1959
Essex Senior Cup match, Oliver accidentally scored a goal. In 1962, after moving to
Leigh-on-Sea in
Essex, Oliver was promoted to the Supplementary Referees List of the
Football Combination; a year later he was promoted to the Full list, and was also added to the Linesmen's List of the
English Football League. In 1968, Oliver was promoted to the Football League Referees List, after serving the previous five seasons as a
Linesman. Between 1968 and 1974, he refereed every club except
Sunderland. He was the referee for the first ever professional football match played on a Sunday in England when Cambridge United played Oldham Athletic in the FA Cup on 6 January 1974. Several other games were played that day but this was the first to kick off at 11.15 am. ==References==