About me
Oliver joined ArtCare in 2013 following a move to the USA from Wiltshire, England. Oliver’s exposure to art began as a boy in his father’s – one of the United Kingdom’s most respected structural conservators – studio. Today, Oliver operates as the CEO and Director of ArtCare Conservation.
Oliver received his formal training under Richard Pelter at International Fine Art Conservation Studios (IFACS) in Bristol, England. While pursuing an L4 NVQ from Strode College, he published a research dissertation, titled “A Study of Contemporary Lining Adhesives and Their Comparable Properties and Suitability under Different Climatic Circumstances”. In 2008, Oliver became director of Richard Watkiss’s studio Lydeway Conservation in the United Kingdom, specializing in the structural conservation of old masters on canvas and panel. In 2011, Oliver received Accredited Conservator-Restorer (ACR) Status from the Institute of Conservation (ICON).
Oliver has led numerous projects since joining ArtCare Conservation, including treatments on Albert Bierstadt’s 'Domes of Yosemite' (1867), and Sandro Botticelli and Domenico Ghirlandaio’s 'Coronation of the Virgin and the Saints' (1492). In 2019, Oliver carried out the planning and implemented the conservation treatment of The John & Mable Ringling Museum’s 'Emperor Justinian' (1886) by Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant as part of the Getty Institute’s Conserving Canvas Initiative. This project included the training of eight mid-level painting conservators from worldwide institutions. The project closed with a structural treatment conservation workshop, which included four professors from painting conservation programs in the USA and Canada.
