Oliver the Excavator

## Oliver (08)

**Oliver** is a big excavator who works for Packard & Co.

## Biography

Oliver is wise and kind and keeps an eye on the other members of the Pack. He is good-mannered and hard-working and never complains about his work or gets impatient. He has the power and precision capability of moving and digging tons of earth in a single day. He likes to be a leader and treats the younger members of the Pack with respect.

Oliver was helping to clear room for new railway lines at the Clay Pits. Later, the Foreman assigned Oliver to move some rocks, but Jack wanted to do it and instead toppled over a hill. Jack learned his lesson and after that he allowed Oliver to continue with his jobs. Once, Oliver uncovered a complete dinosaur skeleton while digging a swimming pool. The following day, Oliver was on the front page of the Sodor Times with the headline, "Digger Digs Dino!".

When Max and Monty carelessly crashed into the lightning tree, Alfie, Kelly, and Oliver used their arms to prevent the tree from falling over until it was propped and saved. However, he proved to be unsuccessful after trying to demolish a building with a wrecking ball.

Oliver, along with the rest of the Pack, also helped with the restoration of Great Waterton.

Oliver later helped to construct the Harwick Branch Line with Jack, Alfie, Max and Monty. While he was heading to the site, he ended up blocking Bertie's way which made him very annoyed since he lost a race with Thomas. When Marion first met the excavator, she believed that Oliver the engine had made a wish to Rex, Bert, and Mike (who Marion believed to be magical) to turn himself into an excavator. Oliver tried to explain, but Marion gave the excavator no chance to do so. It was not until the opening ceremony of the new branch line that Marion found out that there were two Olivers on Sodor.

Later on, when he, Jack, Alfie, Max, and Monty was working on the Ffarquhar Branch Line, the dump truck twins knocked a rock into the hydraulics in Oliver's arm causing him to have to be repaired. When he was repaired he helped clear the branch line after Max and Monty dumped their loads on the line.

## Basis

Oliver's exact basis is unknown and appears to be a freelance design, although his chassis bears a striking resemblance to the Russian KV series of Tanks. Adding to this, when Oliver is seen rotating, he's seen turning from the same location as the turret ring of the aforementioned tank.

## Livery

Oliver is painted pale brown with a pale green panel on his back and his number (08) painted on him in red. Oliver has the cap rim of a builder's hat between his forehead and cab windows.

## Appearances

### Season 6

* Jack Jumps In
* A Friend in Need

### Season 8

* Oliversaurus
* Who’s the Boss?
* Jack Owns Up *(cameo)*
* Buster 1, Moles 0 *(does not speak)*
* The Lightning Tree

### Season 9

* Another Fine Mess
* Alfie Has Kittens *(does not speak)*
* Nelson Gets Carried Away *(cameo)*
* Scaredy, Scaredy *(cameo)*
* Byron Saves the Day
* Mud Glorious Mud *(cameo)*
* The Tortoise and the Hare
* The Great Discovery

### Season 14

* Sodor’s Legend of the Lost Treasure
* Mucking About

### Season 16

* A New Job For Isobella
* Two Shovels Are Better Than One

## Trivia

* Oliver is capable of switching between different tools, including his usual bucket, a chisel for digging, a scissor claw, a wrecking ball for demolition, and a jackhammer.
* Oliver has an Irish accent.
* Oliver is the first character to share his name with another character in the series, and the second to do so in the entire series, the first being Bert and Iron Bert and the third is Stephen, like Sir Topham Hatt's grandson.