Oliver’s research rests on two pillars: firstly, the rise of China in global development, with a focus on Chinese investment in water infrastructure; and secondly water governance, including transboundary water cooperation, water-energy-food nexus, floods and droughts, and hydropower. Conceptually, he is interested in questions of environmental justice, relationships between water and identity, multilevel governance, and governance across scales. Oliver teaches across programmes in International Relations, Geography and and Global Development and supervises PhD students in the above research areas. Oliver is a member of the Northumbria Centre for Global Development (www.northumbria.ac.uk/cid).

Oliver works at the intersection of international relations and international development. Having been trained as a political scientist, Oliver’s work is interdisciplinary. He has been collaborating closely with colleagues from engineering, physical and human geography, or sociology in projects funded by the British Academy, GCRF, Newton Fund, and others. He has published extensively in international high impact journals in the areas of environmental and water governance.

Oliver's research rests on two pillars: firstly, the rise of China in global development, with a focus on Chinese investment in water infrastructure such as hydropower in countries of the global South; and secondly water governance, including transboundary water cooperation, water-energy-food nexus, floods and droughts, and hydropower. Conceptually, he is interested in questions of environmental justice, relationships between water and identity, multilevel governance, and governance across scales.

Oliver is currently lead investigator in the ISPF-British Council project Adapting Crisis Responses to Salt-Droughts in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam (partner: Can Tho University, 2024-2026); and a co-investigator in the ISPF-BBSRC project Working towards Adaptive and Versatile Environmental Sustainability in mollusc aquaculture (WAVES), led by Southampton University (2025-2028). 

Recently expired projects include the Innovate UK project FITS Power Plant - Cambodian Island Community, led by Achelous Energy (2024-2025), the GCRF Research Hub Living Deltas, led by Newcastle University (2019-2024); British Council COP26 Trilateral Research Initiative Integrated Strategies for Water Resources Risk Management in the ASEAN Region under Climate Uncertainty: A Needs Assessment, led by Southampton University (2021-2022); and Newton-NERC Viet Nam: Slow Onset Hazard Interactions with Enhanced Drought and Flood Extremes in an At-Risk Mega Delta, led by Southampton University (2019-2021).