Originally from Auckland, Oliver, who is affectionately named ‘Stroller’ by his team at Te Matapihi, came to the capital to do his Bachelor of Construction Management, majoring in quantity surveying.
He says that he knew Wellington had a lot of construction projects going on that would align with his studies.
“I wanted to get out of Auckland and knew Wellington was pretty exciting, so I’m happy to be here working in the field that I’m studying."
He claims that when he arrived in the city, he accidentally stumbled into Tākina when it was under construction and ended up taking a job as labourer for LT McGuinness.
“I ended up doing quality assurance work and had to look at every little corner, every little speck, make sure there were no scratches and see that everything was functioning as it should.”
Following his role at Tākina, he was given the opportunity to start a new part-time job at Te Matapihi while he completes full-time studies.
In 2020, work began on future proofing the Central Library. Wellington is in the middle of a once in a generation transformation, with Wellingtonians asking for a vibrant, safe, resilient capital city. The Central Library is one of the Council’s key investments.
Oliver has the responsibility of managing the reinforcement works and says this is the perfect role for him.
“I look after all the reinforcement work on site, all the complex combinations of steel bars for the beams and the column capitals. Being one of Wellington’s larger re-strengthening jobs, these beams and capitals are so important to get right. The tonnage of steel on the project is enormous. I’ve got to organise and coordinate where they go and when, as well as ensuring this is executed to the plans and details.
"It’s so fascinating to see such a large structural network being developed right below your feet. This all means I get to see the theoretical side of my studies and the practical side in the work that I do on site. I also get to see how it all works from a management standpoint as well, because it’s awesome to see how much we as a team can progress in one day. It’s been quite fun, I love it.”