Oliver Driver (born 22 November 1974) is a New Zealand actor, director, broadcaster and television presenter.

Television

Driver was the host of ''Let's Be Frank'', and the Creative Director of New Zealand's only alternative music television station, ALT TV, The channel is now no longer on air. He co-hosted TV3's early morning news show ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology A ...

'', which was cancelled on 8 April 2010. Driver played Mike Galloway, a pot smoking nurse on the long-running New Zealand drama '' Shortland Street'' as well as starring in a comedy called ''Serial Killers'', which was based on the lives of six storyliners working on a Shortland Street style hospital based soap. For three years he hosted the

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the ...

arts programme ''Frontseat''. Driver returned to ''Shortland Street'' in the 2010s as a co-producer and director for numerous episodes. He finished a three-year contract in 2008 of voicing advertisements for

The Warehouse The Warehouse Group (TWG) was founded by Stephen Tindall in 1982, and is the largest retail group operating in New Zealand. It is a corporate group that consists of The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Torpedo7, Noel Leeming, 1-day and TheMar ...

, a nationwide retail store in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

. Driver is known outside of New Zealand as the voice of ''Jenji'' on ''

Power Rangers Mystic Force ''Power Rangers Mystic Force'' is the fourteenth season of the television series ''Power Rangers'', based on the Japanese 29th ''Super Sentai'' tokusatsu series. The season premiered on February 20, 2006 as part of the Jetix block on Toon Disney. ...

'' and as ''Master Swoop'' in ''

Power Rangers Jungle Fury ''Power Rangers Jungle Fury'' is the sixteenth season of the American television series '' Power Rangers'', and is an adaptation of '' Juken Sentai Gekiranger'', the thirty-first Japanese ''Super Sentai'' series. The season premiered on Februar ...

.'' He returned to the franchise as a director in both ''

Power Rangers Ninja Steel ''Power Rangers Ninja Steel'' is the twenty-fourth season of the television program '' Power Rangers''. The season was produced primarily using footage, costumes, and props from Japanese 39th Super Sentai series '' Shuriken Sentai Ninninger'' ...

''/''

Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel ''Power Rangers Ninja Steel'' is the twenty-fourth season of the television program ''Power Rangers''. The season was produced primarily using footage, costumes, and props from Japanese 39th Super Sentai series ''Shuriken Sentai Ninninger'' wit ...

'' and ''

Power Rangers Beast Morphers ''Power Rangers Beast Morphers'' are the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh seasons of the American television program ''Power Rangers''. The first season premiered on Nickelodeon on March 2, 2019, while the second season premiered on February 22, 20 ...

'' Season 1 and 2. In 2012 Driver joined the cast of

The Almighty Johnsons ''The Almighty Johnsons'' is a New Zealand fantasy comedy/drama television series, which was created by James Griffin and Rachel Lang and was produced by South Pacific Pictures and aired from 7 February 2011 to 23 September 2013. Production ...

in a recurring role as Eggther during the shows second season. Driver is also a "Guest Panelist" and "Team Leader" on the

version of Would I Lie to You? He worked on a television show called "Sunny Skies" as Oscar, which premiered on

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television * Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Channel 3 (Algeria), a public Algerian TV channel owned by E ...

on 8 February 2013. alongside

Tammy Davis Tammy Davis is a New Zealand actor, best known for his role as Munter on the hit New Zealand comedy-drama '' Outrageous Fortune''. He grew up in Raetihi, New Zealand. In August 2021, it was announced that he would feature in the 2021 Season of ...

Radio

Driver used to host the ''Almost Monday'' radio talkback show for

's nationwide

Newstalk ZB Newstalk ZB is a nationwide New Zealand talk-radio network operated by NZME Radio. It is available in almost every radio market area in New Zealand, and has news reporters based in many of them. In addition to talkback, the network also broadc ...

radio station on Sunday evenings. The "Almost Monday" show was back on air on Newtalk ZB as of Sunday 23 January 2011 however it is no longer on the air.

Film

In 2006 Driver starred in the horror comedy film ''

Black Sheep In the English language, black sheep is an idiom that describes a member of a group who is different from the rest, especially a family member who does not fit in. The term stems from sheep whose fleece is colored black rather than the more comm ...

''. He appeared in

Jonathan King Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King; 6 December 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and record producer. He first came to prominence in 1965 when "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", a song that he wrote and sang while still an undergraduate, ...

's ''

Under the Mountain ''Under the Mountain'' is a 1979 children's book by New Zealand writer Maurice Gee. It has been adapted into a 1981 television miniseries, a 2009 film and stage show. Plot Beneath the extinct volcanoes surrounding the city, giant creature ...

'', a film adaptation of the

Maurice Gee Maurice Gough Gee (born 22 August 1931) is a New Zealand novelist. He is one of New Zealand's most distinguished and prolific authors, having written over thirty novels for adults and children, and has won numerous awards both in New Zealand an ...

book of the same name as Mr Wilberforce, the main villain. Driver has also appeared in ''A Death in The Family'', ''

Topless Women Talk About Their Lives ''Topless Women Talk About Their Lives'' is a 1997 New Zealand film about a group of twenty something friends. It was based on a TV series.Snakeskin Snakeskin may either refer to the skin of a live snake, the shed skin of a snake after molting, or to a type of leather that is made from the hide of a dead snake. Snakeskin and scales can have varying patterns and color formations, providing prot ...

'' and ''Toy Love''.

Theatre

He starred in the play ''

The Pillowman ''The Pillowman'' is a 2003 play by British-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh. It received its first public reading in an early version at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 1995, also a final and completed version of the play was publicly read ...

'' at the Maidment Theatre,

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

; in a season of

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that span ...

's ''Betrayal'' fo
Silo Theatre
and in Brendan Cowell's ''Ruben Guthrie'' at Herald Theatre, The Edge, Auckland, New Zealand. Previously he was the Artistic Director of

Auckland Theatre Company Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) is a professional theatre company in Auckland. It was founded in 1992 and since 2016 has been based in ASB Waterfront Theatre in the Wynyard Quarter in central Auckland. History Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) w ...

References

External links

*
Sunrise homepage

Interview with Oliver Driver
for ScreenTalk, on

NZ On Screen NZ On Screen is a state-funded online promotional showcase of New Zealand television and film. Funded by NZ On Air, it provides free worldwide access to NZ-produced television, film and music videos. Content is streamed and the webpages provide ...