About Peter Oliva
Born 1964. Peter Oliva is a Canadian novelist.
Peter Oliva (born 1964) is a Canadian novelist who lives in Calgary, Alberta.
His first novel, Drowning in Darkness (1993β1999), won the Writers Guild of Alberta Best First Book Award and was shortlisted for a Bressani Prize. The book is set in the Crowsnest Pass of southern Alberta, and in Calabria, Italy. It follows Italian immigrants to Canada in the early 1900s.
A former bookseller, Oliva won the Canadian Bookseller's Association Award for best independent bookstore in Canada, in 1999.
His second novel, The City of Yes, won the 1999 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. The main narrative of a Canadian English teacher in Japan is interwoven with the fictionalized account of Ranald MacDonald, a Canadian explorer and the first man to teach English in Japan.
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Important facts
People in Peter Oliva's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Peter Oliva's
Frequently asked questions
Who is Peter Oliva?
Canadian writer
When was Peter Oliva born?
Peter Oliva was born in 1964 in Japan.
What is Peter Oliva's occupation?
Peter Oliva is a novelist.
What nationality is Peter Oliva?
Peter Oliva is Canadian.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Peter Oliva. https://biography.guide/peter-oliva/
MLA: "Peter Oliva." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/peter-oliva/.
Chicago: "Peter Oliva." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/peter-oliva/.
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