Oliver was born in 1971 in Basel, Switzerland. He learned programming as a computer kid in the early 80s. After studying Philosophy in Basel and Paris, he started working as interactive brand consultant for Interbrand Zintzmeyer&Lux. 
He moved to Japan in September 2003 and started iA Inc in 2005. iA has set new standards in interaction design with clients like DIE ZEIT, Tages-Anzeiger and Freitag and its best selling text editor called iA Writer.