History and other HSS students are encouraged attend a morning coffee break/chat on Tuesday, September 24 at 10:30 am in AA5014 (HSS boardroom) with illustrious alumnus Dean Oliver (BA’87), presented by the Department of History, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Office of Alumni Engagement.
Dean Oliver (BA’87) was once a Rabbittown fastball player who now gets paid to be curious. He has had good people who helped him at every turn in his career, including profs, fellow students and mentors at Memorial, the combined power of which propelled him to grad school at York University.
Narrowly avoiding a career in law, and later one in finance, he spent two years writing and teaching at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, Carleton University, the School’s first ever appointment of an historian (little did they know!) as a post-doctoral fellow. After security and intelligence work briefly beckoned, Oliver’s belief that history matters led to him joining the federal museum system. He was the senior director (research) and chief curator at the Canadian Museum of History from 2013 to 2021, followed by a stint as acting director general and vice president at the Canadian War Museum.
He was asked to join a leading private research firm, Know History, in September 2023, as its inaugural director of museum services, a professional and personal transition that has been as consequential – and every bit as thrilling – as his move from academia to museums many years ago. He has written a few things, won a few awards, flubbed a few fly balls, and been knighted (in 2010 by Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands for “service to society”). Dean Oliver is still learning about the world and the people in it, one conversation, page, or project at a time.