Chris Oliver (surgeon)

Professor Christopher William Oliver BSc (Hons), MB. BS, FRCS (Eng), FRCS (Tr and Orth), FRCS (Ed), FRCP (Ed), DMI RCSEd, FFSTEd. MD
Born	(1960-01-05) January 5, 1960 Forest Gate, London, England
Occupation	Consultant Trauma Orthopaedic Hand Surgeon, Professor Physical Activity for Health[1]
Spouse(s)	Josephine Mary Hilton (1985-)
Children	2
Website	orthodoc.aaos.org/chrisoliver/
Academic background
Alma mater	University College Hospital, University College London
Academic work
Institutions	University of Edinburgh

Professor Chris Oliver is Honorary Professor in Physical Activity for Health at the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre (PAHRC), University of Edinburgh^[2] Specialist Consultant Trauma Orthopaedic and Hand Surgeon at Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh & Shawfair Park Hospital.^[3]

Early life and education

Chris Oliver was born in Forest Gate, East London to Dennis William Oliver and Gladys Eva Gill. His father was a pioneering headmaster in special education for underprivileged maladjusted children in East London. Dennis was a national swimming coach and led Oliver into many sporting activities which he pursued later in his life such as white-water kayaking and cycling. His mother Eva dared Oliver to enter medicine as she saw "no prospect of a meaningful career as a sprint racing kayaker". He paddled white-water in British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska with Dave Manby in 1981.

Oliver firstly attended Gobions Junior School in Romford and then followed by Romford County Technical High School. He was the first person in his family to study medicine and graduated from University College Hospital Medical School, MB BS, now part of University College London in 1985 with an intercalated BSc in Physiology in 1981.

Personal life

Chris Oliver in Sedona, USA 2013 cycling transamerica

In 1985, Oliver married Josephine Hilton. They have two children. He is a keen endurance cyclist, and kayaker. In 1983 he led the first British Universities Kayak Expedition to Kurdistan, Turkey.^[4] In 2006 he weighed over 27 stone and had an adjustable gastric band. Subsequently he lost over 12 stone in weight. He got fit again by cycling and in 2009 he cycled Land's End to John O'Groats. Achieving a lifetime goal In 2013 he cycled 3415 miles from Los Angeles to Boston, USA with his younger daughter.^[5] He has white-water kayaked: Grand Canyon, USA (2010), Sun Kosi River, Nepal (2011),^[6][7] Dragme Chu in Bhutan (2012) and sea kayaked: around to Isle of May and Fife Ness (2016). He was Chairman Cyclists' Touring Club Scotland 2011-2013. He is a keen photographer. He is a type II diabetic.

Medical career

After house jobs in Cuckfield Hospital, Sussex and Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow he then prosected anatomy at University College London (1986). He completed FRCS(Eng.) in 1989. Basic surgical training at Northwick Park Hospital before pursuing a career in Neurosurgery at The National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in London. Not liking neurosurgery, he pursued orthopaedics and trauma surgery as a registrar in Yorkshire and then senior registrar at Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Oswestry. He completed a doctorate (MD) from University College London in spinal muscle physiology and artificial intelligence (1992).^[8] He then completed his orthopaedic and trauma training with specialist fellowships in trauma orthopaedic surgery at Harborview Hospital, Seattle and John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. In Oxford he worked within the experimental resident on-call 24-hour-a-day trauma service. In 1997 he moved to Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh as a Consultant Surgeon with special interest in Hand Surgery and part-time senior lecturer to Department of Trauma Orthopaedics, University of Edinburgh.^[9]

He was a member of Council for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) 2002-2012.^[10] He was the first director of The RCSEd Faculty of Medical Informatics and led the development of an innovative Health informatics Diploma and MSc courses. He developed an global e-Learning website for the AO Foundation with AO Surgery. He was co-convener of all examinations of RCSEd 2006-2008. From 2008-2011 he was the National Chairman of the Intercollegiate Membership Royal College Surgeons (MRCS) examination for the UK and overseas and introduced and stabilised the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) exam. He has led professional surgical exams teams for the Surgical Royal Colleges in India, Hong Kong, Singapore, Oman, Kuwait, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. He was one of the first Fellows of the Faculty of Surgical Trainers RCSEd (2014). He is a Fellow of the British Society Surgery of the Hand. He edited the multi-author Trauma surgery section of Oxford Textbook "Fundamentals of Surgery - Oxford Textbooks in Surgery"^[11] published in July 2016.

In 2015 he became honorary Professor of Physical Activity for Health to Physical Activity for Health Research Centre (PAHRC) at the University of Edinburgh.^[12] PAHRC is a research centre within the Institute of Sport, Physical Education and Health Sciences in Moray House School of Education which aims to provide evidence of how to encourage people of all ages to ‘sit less and walk more’.^[13] In PAHRC he has led the development of teaching and examination of undergraduate education in physical activity throughout the United Kingdom.^{[14][15][16][17][18]} He was one of a team that developed the first massive open online course in Physical Activity and evaluation.^[19][20] A British Journal of Sports Medicine Blog post in April 2016 described Olivers' first year as Professor Physical Activity for Health.^[21] Oliver has an active research interest in infographics^[22] and healthcare,^[23][24] one of the papers in this area has a significant Altmetric Score.^[25] In October 2016 Oliver gave the Sir Alexander Morrison Lecture at Royal College Physicians of Edinburgh. In November 2016 Oliver became a member of the Cross Party Group on Sport and Active Living at The Scottish Parliament.

Oliver holds strong views about obesity and physical activity and its importance in society. He believes that effective education is important in combating obesity and inactivity.

Media career

• Cycling Injuries and Fractures BBC Radio Scotland. Stephen Jardine Programme. 25 Nov 2016
• Big Fat Fix. Edinburgh Film Premiere with Dr Aseem Malhotra. Hosted by University of Edinburgh Medical School. Chairman 20 October 2016
• Cycling and the Law. Cycle Law. Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Chairman. 23 Aug 2016
• Top doctor issues warning as intrepid fundraisers put burden on NHS. Sunday Post. 15 Aug 2016
• Cycling and Health. Spokes, The Lothian Cycle Campaign. Public Debate, Edinburgh. 13 Jun 2016 Storify review
• Gastric Band Surgery: a too easy fix? BBC Radio Scotland Call Kaye. 31 May 2016
• Car Sick, BBC Scotland Investigates, BBC One Scotland. January 2016.
• Weight Loss Surgery, The Kaye Adams Programme, BBC Radio Scotland. December 2015.
• The Day I Changed My Life, BBC Radio Scotland. July 2013.
• Cyclists to sue Edinburgh over tramline accidents, The Scotsman. January 2015.
• Can Bike Riding Up Prostate Risk?, HealthDay (syndicated). July 2014.
• Amazing Loser - Chris Oliver, Man v Fat. October 2014.
• On yer bike! Get involved at the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling, STV News. June 2014.
• Jon Snow, CTC President and newscaster, chairs Cycling Scotland Conference, CTC. September 2013.
• From Los Angeles to Boston: an epic ride across the United States, The Guardian. July 2013.
• The Adventure Show, BBC Two Scotland. April 2013.
• Inspirational Journeys: A Bike Ride Across America, Virgin Atlantic. August 2013.
• Compulsory bike helmets on charity rides is the 'thin end of the wedge', The Guardian. March 2013.
• Cycle helmet laws should be backed by evidence, STV News. 2013.
• Surgeons in Scotland debate the helmet issue - do they increase cyclists' safety or not?, Road.cc. February 2013.
• Driver who killed two cyclists avoids life ban and jail term, The Times. September 2013.
• The 'Cycling Surgeon' and his daughter cross the US for WaterAid, CTC. June 2013.
• Cycling surgeon ready for slice of American pie, The Scotsman. April 2013.
• What would be a fitting legacy of Chris Hoy's Olympic success?, STV News. 2012.
• Wiggins effect is boost to cycling in Scotland, The Herald. July 2012.
• Pedal on Parliament, Newsnight Scotland, BBC Two Scotland. June 2012.
• Tipping the scales: Edinburgh surgeon fights off 'super-obesity', The Scotsman. April 2011.
• All of Scotland's rivers at once: kayaking the Sun Kosi, Caledonian Mercury. 2010.
• Time to get tougher on obesity?, BBC News. September 2009.
• Banding is not the easiest fix, Daily Express. June 2008.

Current posts

• Honorary Professor of Physical Activity for Health, University of Edinburgh.^[26]
• Consultant Orthopaedic Hand Trauma Surgeon, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.^[27]
• Patron Mobile International Surgical Teams (MiST).^[28]
• Advisor NHS Health Scotland Health and Social Care Physical Activity Delivery Group.

Published work

Chris Oliver has over 400 publications and presentations. He written about medical informatics, assessment in medical education, physical activity and orthopaedic surgery.^[29][30][31]

References

External links

• University of Edinburgh Research Explorer - Chris Oliver
• Official website - Chris Oliver