Oliver hated writing at school. Come to think of it, he wasn't that keen on history, languages, or anything else much. So nobody is more surprised than he is at having written a novel set in history, and dabbling in linguistics. Genealogical research led him to begin writing an online biography of his grandfather Frank Kingdon-Ward; an explorer who wrote 25 published books. That project is currently undergoing major revision, but it did lead to Oliver's first paid writing commission. A 1,200 word biography of Frank for The Great Explorers (Thames and Hudson) Oliver's first self published book was "Time Tunnel to Londinium" which he first published on Blurb before creating a Kindle edition and then Createspace. There are now four "Time Tunnel" books, the remainder being "Londinium Revisited", "Time Tunnel at the Seaside" and "Time Tunnel to West Leighton" All these are published under the pen name "Olli Tooley" because they are aimed at younger readers than the Wise Oak series. Children of the Wise Oak took around eight years from conception to realisation, however most of that time was inactivity due to self doubt. The sequel Women of the Wise Oak is coming along at a rather better pace, although good reviews of "Children" would no doubt spur on the creative process. (ha ha) Oliver lives in Devon with his wife and four children. Among other things, he writes, argues with everyone on social media, and presents radio shows on community radio. (The Voice - North Devon)