William Oliver

Lieutenant-General Sir William Pasfield Oliver, (8 September 1901 – 26 February 1981) was a senior British Army officer who served as Vice Chief of the Imperial General Staff from 1955 to 1957.

Early life Oliver was born in Teddington, Middlesex, the son of Royal Navy captain Pasfield Victor Oliver and Charlotte Winifred Richards. He was educated at King's College School, Cambridge, Radley College, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. After being promoted to lieutenant on 24 December 1922, he became adjutant of his regiment in 1927 and, after being promoted to captain on 1 January 1931, went on to be an instructor at the Army School of Physical Training at Aldershot in 1931. He then went out to India as a staff captain in 1936 and then became a General Staff Officer (GSO) in 1937.

He served in the Second World War as a lieutenant colonel on the staff of the Tactical School in 1940 before becoming a general staff officer at Southern Command in 1940.

After the war he became commander 31st Independent Infantry Brigade, part of British Army of the Rhine, from 1948 and Chief Army Instructor at the Imperial Defence College from 1949.