​​​​​​Dr Peter Oliver gained his PhD from the University of Bath in 1994 with his thesis entitled “Computer Simulation of the Effects of Temperature on Oxide Surfaces.” Inspired by high performance computing (HPC), Peter joined the Rutherford Appleton laboratory in 1997, to provide user support on the national HPC service Cray J90. Since then, Peter has developed his expertise and was responsible for the specification, procurement and management of High Performance Computing Systems such as STFC’s Facilities (SCARF), national e-infrastructures (NGS & NeS) and climate and earth-system science (JASMIN). In 2013, Peter changed roles to the SCD Technology Division with expertise in visualisation, code optimisation, software engineering and computational mathematics.

Peter, in his current role as head of operations,​ is responsible for the implementation of SCD’s 5 year strategy, department finances and increasing the impact of SCD activities. 

In 2020 Peter became ​​an Associate Director National Laboratories working closely with the Executive Director, Neil Geddes.