David Oliver (his handle was Oliver) has passed, per his niece on FB. He struggled with Alzheimer’s and hadn’t been a regular poster here in a decade but the old guard will remember him well. A bright, heterodox thinker who resented some of the pile-ons of yore.
If anyone wants to revisit, here is his old Smugmug photo site
David Oliver photo site - ( New Window )
What a terrible disease that is. Rest in Peace
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On a related note, BBI should implement some sort of ring of honor for posters who made an impact like Oliver.
He was a negotiator for us during the Cold War with several Iron Curtain countries and the Soviet Union. Starting in the Nixon years, David spent a lot of time in Moscow and more dangerously in Siberia.
He was on our team for the SALT talks and the Non Proliferation treaty. He did a lot of work on currency and trade negotiations in Asia and Central and Latin America.
In his later years of service he was working with the Yelstin and was a leader of the technical details behind the NAFTA Treaty.
David interacted with 6 Administration's and the DOD, Treasury, State and the CIA.
I write this to acknowledge that we do not know how lucky we were in that earlier version of BBI to be interacting with all kinds of perspectives and expertise. Some of those threads left members interacting with national level expertise but having no idea of that given the humility and discretion of posters like David.
He was a very good man with a wide range of interests and also dedicated to our futures as citizens of a great experiment.
A good life well lived and a very good man.
Great photos
Sorry to hear he passed but nice to see him remembered here
Always greatly enjoyed interacting with him here.
He was a negotiator for us during the Cold War with several Iron Curtain countries and the Soviet Union. Starting in the Nixon years, David spent a lot of time in Moscow and more dangerously in Siberia.
He was on our team for the SALT talks and the Non Proliferation treaty. He did a lot of work on currency and trade negotiations in Asia and Central and Latin America.
In his later years of service he was working with the Yelstin and was a leader of the technical details behind the NAFTA Treaty.
David interacted with 6 Administration's and the DOD, Treasury, State and the CIA.
I write this to acknowledge that we do not know how lucky we were in that earlier version of BBI to be interacting with all kinds of perspectives and expertise. Some of those threads left members interacting with national level expertise but having no idea of that given the humility and discretion of posters like David.
He was a very good man with a wide range of interests and also dedicated to our futures as citizens of a great experiment.
A good life well lived and a very good man.
Photography was his passion.
He also had a gift of relating to the lesser-known players on the team, to the point where they actively sought him out and gave him hugs after the 2000 NFC Championship Game.
That's a heartwarming story.
RIP.
Thanks for passing along, Duned.
He was a negotiator for us during the Cold War with several Iron Curtain countries and the Soviet Union. Starting in the Nixon years, David spent a lot of time in Moscow and more dangerously in Siberia.
He was on our team for the SALT talks and the Non Proliferation treaty. He did a lot of work on currency and trade negotiations in Asia and Central and Latin America.
In his later years of service he was working with the Yelstin and was a leader of the technical details behind the NAFTA Treaty.
David interacted with 6 Administration's and the DOD, Treasury, State and the CIA.
I write this to acknowledge that we do not know how lucky we were in that earlier version of BBI to be interacting with all kinds of perspectives and expertise. Some of those threads left members interacting with national level expertise but having no idea of that given the humility and discretion of posters like David.
He was a very good man with a wide range of interests and also dedicated to our futures as citizens of a great experiment.
A good life well lived and a very good man.
Thanks for that Bill2. I had forgaotten him, but this thread jogged my memory and I'm glad for that. But at no time did I ever know that incredible background you just shared, and I thank you for that so that I may have a greater appreciation than just a vague memory.
He had a great library and we swapped stuff back and forth. I still re read some of them to understand what we are seeing to this day. He could see trends play out far into the future. After Orwell, he was the best at laying out paths I recognize in the details of these days.
Hope to see you soon Jon
And as always, good to see your posts. Life hasn't permitted me to be on this site nearly as much as I used to be.