Graham Oliver

Graham Oliver (born 6 July 1952) is an English guitarist who was born in Mexborough, South Yorkshire. He was a founding member in the heavy metal band Saxon from 1976 to 1995. Career Oliver was a budding guitarist while working in a factory in the mid-1970s, but gave up after losing the tip of his index finger in an accident with a door, and sold his prized 1962/63 Fender Stratocaster (he would attempt to track down the guitar 40 years later). He was, however, encouraged by future bandmate Paul Quinn to learn to play again. Oliver was originally a member of the band SOB, which formed in 1970. SOB played its first shows in 1970 under the name Blue Condition and toured extensively from 1970 to 1975, also in Germany and the Netherlands. The other members were future Saxon bassist Steve Dawson, Steve Firth on vocals and drummers David Bradley, John Hart, Cowley and John Walker. The band merged in November 1975 with another local band (Coast) to become first Son of a Bitch and from 1978 Saxon, with whom Oliver played from the start and until 1995, as guitarist during a period in which the band had five top 20 albums in the UK.