Neil Oliver
Neil Oliver (born 21 February 1967) is a Scottish television presenter, archaeologist, and author. He is best known as the presenter of several documentary series on archaeology and history, including "A History of Scotland", "Vikings", and "Coast". He is also an author of popular history books and historical fiction. He was the president of the National Trust for Scotland from 2017 to 2020. Early life and education. Oliver was born in Renfrew and grew up in Ayr and Dumfries where he attended Dumfries Academy. He then attended the University of Glasgow. He obtained an MA (Hons) in archaeology  and then worked as a freelance archaeologist, before training as a journalist.<ref Name="Pass/Fail"></ref> He received honorary degrees from Abertay University in 2011 and the University of Glasgow in 2015. Television career. Oliver first appeared on television in the 2002 BBC Two series "Two Men in a Trench", in which he and archaeologist Tony Pollard visited historic British battlefields. He was also a co-author of the two books accompanying the series. In 2006, he presented "The Face of Britain" for Channel 4 and "Scotland's History: The Top Ten" for the BBC. Early in his career he also  appeared on "The One Show" and "Time Team". Oliver was a co-presenter of the first series of "Coast" in 2005, and replaced Nicholas Crane as the show's main presenter for the second, third, fourth, and fifth series. He also presented "Coast Australia" (2013) and "Coast New Zealand" (2016). From 2006 to 2018 he presented a number of history documentaries for the BBC, including "A History of Scotland" (2008) and "Sacred Wonders of Britain" (2013). In 2012, he wrote and presented "Vikings", a three-part series on the Vikings. In April 2021, he was announced as a presenter for  GB News. Oliver hosts a weekly current affairs and interview programme on the channel. Personal life. He lives in Stirling with his wife, three children and an Irish wolfhound. He is a patron of the Association of Lighthouse Keepers. In November 2011, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of Abertay Dundee. Politics. In May 2014, Oliver stated in an interview with "The Herald", that he was "proud of Britain" and noted his dislike of the forthcoming Scottish independence referendum saying that "this kind of internecine squabbling puts my teeth on edge. I would rather that  it would just go away – or that it had never happened". He went on to say that he "liked the status quo". When he was appointed President of the National Trust for Scotland, thousands signed petitions calling on him to resign. In June 2020, in the midst of a row about his admiration for the historian David Starkey, Neil Oliver announced he was resigning from the National Trust for Scotland board. However, Oliver pointed out that he was "stepping down 'as intended' when his three year term in the role comes to an end in September ." The National Trust  for Scotland also dismissed claims that Oliver endorsed Starkey's controversial comments as "untrue". In December 2020, Oliver reasserted his personal opposition to Scottish independence, describing the uncertainty caused by the prospect of a second referendum as a "cancerous presence" and that "I'm a British citizen, that's how I see myself. Not in an argumentative way, I don't see that I should have to cede my right to understand myself as I am to some politician." Commenting on the British government's response to the coronavirus pandemic, on 11 June 2021 Oliver said, "Lockdown is the biggest  single mistake in world history". He also criticised the drive to vaccinate children in the UK against COVID-19, saying, "Never before in medical history has there been a proposal to vaccinate children against a disease that poses them no measurable harm. Added to this is the undeniable fact these vaccines for COVID are experimental, in that no data is available concerning long term effects." He likened the fight against government anti-COVID measures to the fight against Nazi Germany, saying, "there's another battle of Britain being fought now. It's being fought by a minority outgunned and shouted down  by those who would accept freedom handed to them by MPs on condition that they do as they are told. That's not freedom. That is tyranny." Oliver's opposition to coronavirus restrictions led to him leaving the unionist campaign group These Islands. Tom Holland, an advisory board member of These Islands, said that Oliver's "current focus was not compatible with our own". During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Oliver was mocked on social media for stating on GB News that "I'll be honest. I don't know what's happening in Ukraine. I don't understand  it either" before going on to give a 10-minute monologue on the subject, during which he stated "I do know that I don't trust Putin, or our government, or Europe's governments, or the governments of North America either. I certainly don't trust any of them to tell the truth". The "Financial Times" journalist Robert Shrimsley characterised Oliver's monologue as "I don't know what's happening in Ukraine. I don't understand it either. But here are my opinions anyway". John Sweeney called Oliver "an apologist for Russian fascism".