Location Overview

Oliver is situated in the south central area of British Columbia, Canada's third largest province which occupies almost ten per cent of the country's land surface.

The Province is nearly four times the size of Great Britain, 2.5 times larger than Japan, and larger than any of the U.S. states except Alaska. There are now almost 4 million residents living in B.C., one of the fastest growing and most resource rich areas in Canada.

The variety of terrain and the diversity of climate produces more species of living things than any other Canadian province.

The Town of Oliver is located approximately 25 km north of the 49th parallel (U.S.-Canadian Border) in a long, narrow, north-south valley – the Okanagan Valley, or simply the Okanagan. It is renowned the world over as one of the most pleasant areas in Canada in which to live.

Oliver is located at 49° 12' N, 119°32'W. The Town's land area is approximately five square kilometers. The elevation at the Oliver Airport is 350 metres (1,100 feet) above sea level.

The community was named after Premier John Oliver, whose provincial Liberal government (1918-27) sponsored the Southern Okanagan Lands Project, irrigating land to be settled by soldiers returning from the First World War.

In the words of Richard and Sydney Cannings, authors of B.C. Natural History: "At first glance the geological map of the province looks like a bad dream - a collage of unrelated colours and few apparent patterns." The Okanagan is very special. It is renowned the world over as one of the most pleasant areas in Canada in which to live. The valley is actually the northern extension of the Colorado River basin, and forms the only temperate desert area in Canada.

From the U.S.-Canadian border to Salmon Arm at the northern extreme, the Okanagan stretches over 200 km, yet averages only 15 km. wide for most of that distance. The South Okanagan area falls within the jurisdiction of the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen, (RDOS), which includes the Town of Oliver and surrounding rural area.

The Columbia and Cascade mountain ranges in south-central B.C. surround the valley with elevations exceeding 2,100 m (7,000 feet) above sea level. The Okanagan's landscape is made up of series of terraces and oblong lakes which were formed by glacial activity during the Tertiary and Pleistocene eras.

The final retreat of the ice (between 11,000 and 9,000 years ago) left large deposits of gravel, silt, clay and sand on the bottom and sides of the valley floor.

It is estimated there are now over a quarter of a million people living in the Okanagan. The area has become a prime residential and small business relocation area due to the gentle climate, excellent transportation and the availability of world class recreational opportunities. The Okanagan offers business and investment opportunities in a location and environment which is second to none.