Young stage, film and TV actor who played Sam Gardner, the twentysomething son of Richard Kiley, in the Emmy Award-winning NBC miniseries "A Year in the Life" (1986) and the subsequent TV series (1987-88). Previously Oliver had been a regular on the soap "Another World". After the end of "A Year in the Life" he did TV guest spots and a busted pilot ("Protect and Surf" 1989) and appeared in several TV movies and miniseries ("If It's Tuesday, It Still Must Be Belgium" 1987, "Miracle in the Wilderness" 1991). Oliver's film career included a starring role in "Defense Play" (1988) and small roles in Derek Jarman's "Edward the II" and Jim Abrahams' "Hot Shots" (both 1991). He also appeared on the San Diego stage. Oliver's final stage work was in "Elegies: An AIDS Anthology".