Oliver studied Drama and English at the University of Bristol, followed by postgraduate film studies there. During his studies, he received cinematography awards including a Fuji film scholarship and the BP Kodak cinematography prize. He later undertook further training in computer animation at Escape Studios.
He began working in film in the 1980s, initially pursuing acting before moving towards cinematography. He worked on music videos, short films and commercials, and began collaborating with Aardman Animations in 1989. His early work with cinematographer Dave Alex Riddett included the stop-motion productions The Wrong Trousers (1993) and A Close Shave (1995), both directed by Nick Park and recipients of Academy Awards. Oliver subsequently worked on Aardman’s feature films, including Chicken Run (2000) and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Oliver expanded his work in stop-motion feature cinematography through collaborations with American animation studios. He served as director of photography on Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), directed by Wes Anderson, and ParaNorman (2012), produced by Laika. He later worked with Anderson on Isle of Dogs (2018), serving as director of photography, and on The French Dispatch (2021) as model-unit director of photography. His credits also include The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), on which he worked as model-unit director of photography.
His other work includes Loving Vincent (2017), an animated feature created using hand-painted frames based on live-action performances, and Where Is Anne Frank (2021), directed by Ari Folman. He also served as director of photography on Coppelia (2021), which combines filmed dance performances with animation, and worked on Poor Things (2023) as model-unit director of photography. Oliver’s career has centred on adapting cinematographic techniques to stop-motion and other animation processes, alongside live-action and commercial work.