Julian Oliver

Julian Oliver

Julian Oliver is an artist and critical engineer renowned for creating devices that illuminate what digital technologies try to hide. His projects leverage open software and public technology platforms in order to recombine and expose what certain technologies attempt to cover up.

With his 2010 project Newstweek, he demonstrated how information channels could be controlled to sway public opinion. Artvertiser provided another excellent example.

Early Life and Education

Julian Davidson spent much of his youth studying Latin, math, science, literature, drawing, political history and naval warfare through working as an apprentice on board the Arizona steamer that traveled from Australia to Asia.

Jamie Oliver later rose to prominence through his television series Jamie’s School Dinners, which sought to improve school cafeteria food quality across Britain. Additionally, he published several cookbooks and introduced his own line of cooking equipment.

Julian Oliver is a New Zealander working as a critical engineer, systems architect and electronic artist. He has presented his work at international conferences and museums, while being well versed in software art, creative hacking, UNIX/Linux systems administration and information visualization. Furthermore, Julian has conducted workshops on data forensics, countersurveillance techniques and software art.

Professional Career

Julian Oliver Davidson left home as a teenager, sailing ships that ventured across the Mediterranean and Orient. Upon his return to America, he attended high school on a full scholarship before playing basketball at Georgetown University where he was named Most Outstanding Defensive Player.

His artistic works have been featured at museums, galleries, international electronic-art conferences and events, including Newstweek (co-created with Daniil Vasiliev). Newstweek received several prizes including the prestigious Golden Nica at Prix Ars Electronica 2011.

At numerous workshops and master classes around the globe he has offered master classes on software art, creative hacking, data forensics, computer networking, counter surveillance, object-oriented programming for artists, augmented reality virtual architecture video-game development information visualisation as well as information visualisation using Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). He remains a strong supporter of FOSS.

Achievement and Honors

Julian Oliver is a critical engineer, artist and educator specializing in using public technology and open code creatively to shed light on what certain digital technologies try to hide. His works have been shown at museums, international electronic-art events and conferences worldwide.

He is widely recognized for his contributions in artistic game-development, software art, counter-surveillance, data forensics and information visualization. He has presented papers and artworks at many international events such as Tate Modern and Transmediale.

He is an esteemed member of Carleton University and was honored to receive two Olga and Paul Menn Foundation Scholarships as well as being honored with the Pat Kirby Award, given annually to graduating student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through participation on multiple teams and extensive support for sports at Carleton and have done justice to its namesake’s legacy.

Personal Life

Julian Oliver was an artist, writer, and food expert renowned for composing several best-selling cookbooks and appearing on popular television programs like Jamie’s School Dinners to improve school lunches in Britain.

He has lectured and conducted workshops in video-game design, artistic game-development, object-oriented programming for artists, data forensics, countersurveillance, information visualization, open software development and computer networking worldwide. His works have been displayed at museums as well as international electronic-art events.

He is the founder of Direct Nickel Ltd. and Sydney Mining Club as well as chairman of Empire Energy Group Ltd’s board. Additionally, he is an accomplished jazz pianist having performed alongside Lucio Dalla and Stefano Di Battista. Born and raised in the US with multicultural roots.

Net Worth

Oliver comes from an established family. His parents run their business successfully while Oliver also enjoys a high net worth which manifests itself through lavish purchases and lifestyle choices.

He is an accomplished author and speaker, having presented his work at multiple international electronic-art events and conferences around the globe. An advocate of free software, he supports projects that advance civil rights within networked environments.

His works are intrinsically interwoven with computer gaming; he utilizes the vast availability of game construction software to craft new avenues for artistic exploration and interaction. Early examples of his creative repurposing of game software included Quake III Arena painting program ‘q3aPaint’ as an automatic painting platform, and Quake III Arena collision detecting program (Q3APD) which turned virtual object collisions into music producing processes.

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