John Oliver is in his seventh season at Purdue in 2022-23 as an assistant coach with the Boilermaker distance and cross country runners, and he is in his second season as the head cross country coach.
Oliver has guided the cross country and distance programs to record-setting success at Purdue, highlighted by one of the best seasons in men’s cross country history in 2019 and numerous top-10 times throughout his tenure.
In 2022-23, the year began with a fifth top-five Big Ten finish in six years for the men’s cross country team, a feat the program hadn’t accomplished since 1950. The five top-five finishes under Oliver comes after Purdue earned just five total such finishes from 1950-2016. Seven top-10 times in school history were run on the track, including by Emma Squires in the indoor mile and Payne Turney in the outdoor 1,500m, as they became the first Boilermakers to crack the top-10 in those events since 2016.
Both cross country teams once again earned the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team award, and Oliver’s runners earned a total of 40 Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2022-23 and six were named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars. Additionally, Emma Tate was recognized as Purdue’s Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship recipient.
The 2021-22 season saw a pair of NCAA cross country qualifiers, as Curt Eckstein and Emma Tate each made the national meet. Eckstein earned his fourth berth while Tate became the first Purdue woman to run at the NCAA championships since 2017. The duo both earned Great Lakes All-Region accolades. In track & field, Eckstein added a Big Ten silver medal outdoors in the 10,000m and earned top-seven podium finishes in all four events he raced in, two indoors and two outdoors. Eckstein added a school record in the indoor 3,000m and competed at the NCAA East Prelims
Academically, Eckstein was bestowed with Academic All-District honors, the 14th Boilermaker in team history to be recognized and the fourth ever on the men’s team. Additionally both men’s and women’s programs collecting USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors and Eckstein and Tate both were bestowed with individual accolades. Purdue’s distance and cross country runners earned 52 total Academic All-Big Ten accolades and 10 were named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars in 2021-22.
In 2020-21, the men’s cross country team earned a top-four Big Ten finish for a third consecutive year, a program first since 1948, and the squad raced at the NCAA Championships for a third year in a row for just the second time ever, along with the 1946-50 teams. The men have earned a top-five Big Ten finish in each of Oliver’s four years after not placing in the top-five once from 1986-2016, while the three-year NCAA streak comes after the team didn’t qualify for the meet from 1987-2017. The 2020-21 Boilermakers were ranked nationally in all seven weeks of the USTFCCCA Coaches Poll.
On the track in 2021, Curt Eckstein broke the school record in the indoor 3,000, Ian Hunter set the record in the outdoor 1,500 and Brody Smith ran the program’s fastest 3,000 steeplechase time. Hunter’s mark of 3:45.61 broke a 48-year-old record, while Smith’s record of 8:43.77 was the first top-10 time in the event since 2015.
Eckstein earned First Team All-Big Ten honors in cross country, and he and Smith ran at the NCAA East Prelims. Fourteen men and seven women earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in cross country, and the men’s and women’s teams both earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Team accolades.
Purdue placed 11th overall at the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships, its best finish since 1950. Oliver helped guide Jaret Carpenter and Curt Eckstein to All-America accolades, the 10th and 11th All-Americans in Purdue men’s cross country history and the second and third since 1987. Carpenter finished 10th overall at the NCAA meet, the best finish by a Boilermaker since 1949.
Carpenter also was named the Big Ten Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year as Purdue placed fourth at the Big Ten Championship with 82 points, the most by the program since 1985. The Boilermakers were the only team at the championships to have three runners finish in the top 11.
Additionally, Purdue won its first NCAA Regional in team history. All five of the Boilermakers’ fastest runners earned top-24 finishes, the only squad to accomplish the feat.
The Boilermakers’ 2019 NCAA appearance came after the team also made it in 2018, which marked the first time since 1985-86 that Purdue raced at NCAAs in back-to-back seasons. The 2018 NCAA berth was the first as a team for the men since 1986.
Oliver joined the Boilermakers after he spent five years at Stanford, where he coached the men to three consecutive top-three finishes at the NCAA Cross Country Championships as the men's distance assistant coach.
Oliver helped lead the Stanford distance squad to achievements it hadn’t seen in at least a decade. His Cardinal men’s cross country team was the NCAA runner-up in 2016 as well as in 2014, with a third place finish in 2015. It was the first time Stanford had back-to-back top-three finishes in more than 10 years. He also led the program to two West Regional cross country titles.
Oliver led seven different individuals to All-America honors in his last three seasons at Stanford, including three top-10 finishers at the cross country national championships. On the track, Oliver coached the 2017 NCAA Outdoor 5,000-meter national champion, Grant Fisher, who, as a sophomore, earned Stanford’s first individual national title in six years. A year earlier, Oliver directed Sean McGorty to a runner-up finish in the indoor 3,000-meter race as well as the outdoor 5,000-meter event.
Other achievements by Cardinal distance runners competing for Oliver include a Pac-12 Cross Country Freshman of the Year, the school record in the mile with a time of 3:53.95 – No. 2 in history among American collegians indoors on any size track, the No. 3 time on the all-time U.S. junior 5k list (13:30.13), five All-Americans at a single cross country NCAA meet, the 2014 DMR national title, a Pan-Am Cup and NACAC champion, as well as an NCAA West Regional champion.
Prior to Stanford, Oliver spent four seasons (2009-12) at Syracuse, where he was the assistant coach and director of operations. While with the Orange, Oliver produced four cross country All-Americans, three Big East men's cross country champions and three regional men's and women's champions. Meanwhile, during the track & field season, Oliver paved the way for eight program records.
A native of St. Louis, Oliver was a collegiate runner for North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. During his time there, his cross country and track teams won 11 of a possible 12 league titles.
Oliver has guided the cross country and distance programs to record-setting success at Purdue, highlighted by one of the best seasons in men’s cross country history in 2019 and numerous top-10 times throughout his tenure.
In 2022-23, the year began with a fifth top-five Big Ten finish in six years for the men’s cross country team, a feat the program hadn’t accomplished since 1950. The five top-five finishes under Oliver comes after Purdue earned just five total such finishes from 1950-2016. Seven top-10 times in school history were run on the track, including by Emma Squires in the indoor mile and Payne Turney in the outdoor 1,500m, as they became the first Boilermakers to crack the top-10 in those events since 2016.
Both cross country teams once again earned the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team award, and Oliver’s runners earned a total of 40 Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2022-23 and six were named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars. Additionally, Emma Tate was recognized as Purdue’s Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship recipient.
The 2021-22 season saw a pair of NCAA cross country qualifiers, as Curt Eckstein and Emma Tate each made the national meet. Eckstein earned his fourth berth while Tate became the first Purdue woman to run at the NCAA championships since 2017. The duo both earned Great Lakes All-Region accolades. In track & field, Eckstein added a Big Ten silver medal outdoors in the 10,000m and earned top-seven podium finishes in all four events he raced in, two indoors and two outdoors. Eckstein added a school record in the indoor 3,000m and competed at the NCAA East Prelims
Academically, Eckstein was bestowed with Academic All-District honors, the 14th Boilermaker in team history to be recognized and the fourth ever on the men’s team. Additionally both men’s and women’s programs collecting USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors and Eckstein and Tate both were bestowed with individual accolades. Purdue’s distance and cross country runners earned 52 total Academic All-Big Ten accolades and 10 were named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars in 2021-22.
In 2020-21, the men’s cross country team earned a top-four Big Ten finish for a third consecutive year, a program first since 1948, and the squad raced at the NCAA Championships for a third year in a row for just the second time ever, along with the 1946-50 teams. The men have earned a top-five Big Ten finish in each of Oliver’s four years after not placing in the top-five once from 1986-2016, while the three-year NCAA streak comes after the team didn’t qualify for the meet from 1987-2017. The 2020-21 Boilermakers were ranked nationally in all seven weeks of the USTFCCCA Coaches Poll.
On the track in 2021, Curt Eckstein broke the school record in the indoor 3,000, Ian Hunter set the record in the outdoor 1,500 and Brody Smith ran the program’s fastest 3,000 steeplechase time. Hunter’s mark of 3:45.61 broke a 48-year-old record, while Smith’s record of 8:43.77 was the first top-10 time in the event since 2015.
Eckstein earned First Team All-Big Ten honors in cross country, and he and Smith ran at the NCAA East Prelims. Fourteen men and seven women earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in cross country, and the men’s and women’s teams both earned USTFCCCA All-Academic Team accolades.
Purdue placed 11th overall at the 2019 NCAA Cross Country Championships, its best finish since 1950. Oliver helped guide Jaret Carpenter and Curt Eckstein to All-America accolades, the 10th and 11th All-Americans in Purdue men’s cross country history and the second and third since 1987. Carpenter finished 10th overall at the NCAA meet, the best finish by a Boilermaker since 1949.
Carpenter also was named the Big Ten Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Year as Purdue placed fourth at the Big Ten Championship with 82 points, the most by the program since 1985. The Boilermakers were the only team at the championships to have three runners finish in the top 11.
Additionally, Purdue won its first NCAA Regional in team history. All five of the Boilermakers’ fastest runners earned top-24 finishes, the only squad to accomplish the feat.
The Boilermakers’ 2019 NCAA appearance came after the team also made it in 2018, which marked the first time since 1985-86 that Purdue raced at NCAAs in back-to-back seasons. The 2018 NCAA berth was the first as a team for the men since 1986.
Oliver joined the Boilermakers after he spent five years at Stanford, where he coached the men to three consecutive top-three finishes at the NCAA Cross Country Championships as the men's distance assistant coach.
Oliver helped lead the Stanford distance squad to achievements it hadn’t seen in at least a decade. His Cardinal men’s cross country team was the NCAA runner-up in 2016 as well as in 2014, with a third place finish in 2015. It was the first time Stanford had back-to-back top-three finishes in more than 10 years. He also led the program to two West Regional cross country titles.
Oliver led seven different individuals to All-America honors in his last three seasons at Stanford, including three top-10 finishers at the cross country national championships. On the track, Oliver coached the 2017 NCAA Outdoor 5,000-meter national champion, Grant Fisher, who, as a sophomore, earned Stanford’s first individual national title in six years. A year earlier, Oliver directed Sean McGorty to a runner-up finish in the indoor 3,000-meter race as well as the outdoor 5,000-meter event.
Other achievements by Cardinal distance runners competing for Oliver include a Pac-12 Cross Country Freshman of the Year, the school record in the mile with a time of 3:53.95 – No. 2 in history among American collegians indoors on any size track, the No. 3 time on the all-time U.S. junior 5k list (13:30.13), five All-Americans at a single cross country NCAA meet, the 2014 DMR national title, a Pan-Am Cup and NACAC champion, as well as an NCAA West Regional champion.
Prior to Stanford, Oliver spent four seasons (2009-12) at Syracuse, where he was the assistant coach and director of operations. While with the Orange, Oliver produced four cross country All-Americans, three Big East men's cross country champions and three regional men's and women's champions. Meanwhile, during the track & field season, Oliver paved the way for eight program records.
A native of St. Louis, Oliver was a collegiate runner for North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. During his time there, his cross country and track teams won 11 of a possible 12 league titles.