Neil Oliver qualified as an archaeologist in 1988. His fieldwork experience has covered everything from the early Stone Age in Scotland to the examination of World War II coastal fortifications of Kent and Northern France.
Neil trained as a journalist working on The Scotsman, The Herald, The Guardian, The Edinburgh Evening News and The Daily Record, but it was in 2002 that his television career really started. BBC 2's Two men in a Trench saw Neil and his friend Tony Pollard visit historic British battlefields and recreate the battle situation using state-of-the-art technology. Neil co-wrote two books to accompany the series. Two Men in a Trench: Battlefield Archaeology and Two Men in a Trench II: Uncovering the Secrets of British Battlefields.
Following this Neil became the lead presenter on the highly acclaimed BBC2series Coast in 2005. In 2006, as well as working on Coast Neil made two documentaries, The Face of Britain and Scotland's History: The Top Ten.
He also took part in Channel 4'sTime Team: Big Royal Dig digging up the gardens at the Palace of Holyrood house in Edinburgh.
Following this Neil was one of the presenters on The History Detectives and he also contributed to The One Show.
In 2008 Neil's passion for his native Scotland really emerged in the landmark documentary series A History of Scotland. And his next book, Amazing Tales For Making Men Out Of Boys was published in the same year.
BBC1‘s Cleopatra saw Neil investigate the story of a ruthless queen, journeying from Egypt to Turkey, to reveal a woman who would kill her own siblings for power, in Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer.
In early 2011 Neil took viewers on a journey, A History of Ancient Britainquickly followed by A History of Celtic Britain which told the epic story of how Britain and its people came to be over thousands of years of ancient history - the beginnings of our world forged in ice, stone, and bronze. He has also written a book to accompany the series, which was published in Autumn 2011.
Neil's most recent series, Vikings, also for BBC 2 which aired in September 2012 was a 3-part search for the truth about the Vikings. Neil has also written a book to accompany the series.
Neil lives in Scotland with his wife and three children.
