Background
Oliver was born in Memphis, Tennessee.
Oliver was born in Memphis, Tennessee.
Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the second round of the 1983 MLB Amateur Draft, Oliver would make his Major League Baseball debut with Cincinnati on July 15, 1989, and appear in his final game on October 6, 2001. He threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet 3 inches (191 cm) tall and weighed 215 pounds (98 kg. 154 st). Oliver had a 13-season Major League career with the Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
In 1,076 games played—769 of them with the Reds—he amassed 831 hits, with 174 doubles and three triples to accompany his 102 career home runs.
In 1992, he led National League catchers in games caught, putouts and range factor. He also led Netherlands backstops in fielding percentage in 1990.
On January 31, 2014, Entertainment and Sports Programming Network reported via his agent Burton Rocks that Oliver returned from a 13-year absence from professional baseball to manage the Lowell Spinners, the Red Sox" Short-Season Class A affiliate in the New York-Penn League. Oliver took over for 2013 manager Bruce Crabbe, who joined Triple A Pawtucket Red Sox in a coaching capacity.
In two seasons at Lowell (2014-2015) Oliver led the Spinners to a 74–77 (490) record.
He was promoted to manager of the Class A-Advanced Salem Red Sox of the Carolina League for 2016 during the off-season.
During his 19-year playing career (1983–2001) he was a member of the Cincinnati Reds 1990 World Series Champions. Oliver was a member of the Reds team that defeated the Oakland Athletics in the 1990 World Series.