Bernard M. Oliver. Bernard More Oliver (May 17, 1916 – November 23, 1995) also known as Barney Oliver, was an American engineer who made contributions in many fields, including radar, television, and computers.  He was the founder and director of Hewlett-Packard (HP) laboratories until his retirement in 1981. He is also a recognized pioneer in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Oliver was president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 1965.

In 1973, Oliver was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. In 1986, Oliver received the National Medal of Science for Engineering Science. In 2004, Oliver was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. The asteroid, 2177 Oliver, is named after him.

Early life and education
Bernard (Barney) More Oliver, born to Margaret (née More) and William Oliver, was a native of Santa Cruz, California, grew up on a ranch in the Soquel Valley, and at age 19, received an undergraduate degree from Stanford in 1935. He then obtained a master's degree from the university in 1936 and went to Germany for a year on a scholarship, and returned to complete a Ph.D. magna cum laude by 1939, receiving the degree in 1940 from Caltech.

Early career
Oliver was a member of the technical staff of the  Bell Telephone Laboratories from 1940 to 1952.

HP Labs 
In 1952, Oliver became Hewlett-Packard's Director of Research, and founded HP Labs. In 1957, Oliver was named Vice President for R&D, and joined HP's Board of Directors, working there until 1981.

In May 1972, the Barney Oliver Amplifier was offered to virtually every product and sales division employee for $325, with 400 orders received by February 1973. The Barney Oliver Amplifier was a cooperative, after-hours "G" job, with  Chris Clare, Rich Marconi and Ken Peterson of Paul Stoft's lab assisting on electrical and mechanical aspects, Paul Rasmuasen of Corporate Industrial Design lending his special talents, Clarence Studley of Paul Stoft's lab finalizing the mechanical design, Eileen Martin of HPL doing PC layout, Betty Downs of HPL doing schematics and artwork, and Tom Osborne, helping in a variety of ways.  By May 1973, HP produced 400 units, on a time-available basis, for employees only, with earlier models made available in kit form. Bill Hewletts Barney Oliver Amplifier serial number was 554.

"An old friend of mine who was one of the chief engineers at Hewlett-Packard, Barney Oliver, decided to make a power amplifier. This was maybe 30 years ago, and he got Dave Packard's approval, they would make a hundred, two hundred. It was a terrible amplifier, and Barney, who had the entire backing of Hewlett-Packard, was one of the smartest engineers going. The notion that audio is simple and easy to do is a big fantasy. There are very few people who have ever done it really well." - Richard Sequerra, 26 April 2009  Stereophile

Works

Scientific contributions
 Developed pulse-code modulation (PCM) with John R. Pierce and Claude Shannon
 Headed the HP-35 (HP calculators) development team

Chairs, foundations, and awards
 In 2004 he was inducted into The National Inventors Hall of Fame.
 In 1997 the SETI Institute established a newly endowed position, the Bernard M. Oliver Chair.  
 Bernard Oliver Memorial Fund
 National Medal of Science, List of National Medal of Science winners, Engineering 1986
 Oliver Observing Station, observatory of the Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy
 IEEE Lamme Medal (1977)

Personal life
In 1945, Oliver married to Priscilla Newton until her death in December 1994. They had three children, Karen, Gretchen and William.

See also
 2177 Oliver (an asteroid named for Bernard M. Oliver)
 SETI

References

External links
Oliver, Bernard M., 1916-. (1986).  Oral history interview with Bernard More Oliver. Charles Babbage Institute. Retrieved from the University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, http://hdl.handle.net/11299/107590. PDF
Bernard More Oliver biography at SETI Institute

American computer scientists
20th-century American engineers
1916 births
1995 deaths
National Medal of Science laureates
Hewlett-Packard people
Scientists at Bell Labs
IEEE Lamme Medal recipients
20th-century American inventors
Silicon Valley people
American electrical engineers
People from Soquel, California