Dale Oliver grew up on a east Kansas farm and studied art at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas. He entered the US Army in March of 1942 and then entered the Army Air Corps Glider Pilot Program that summer. He went to the European Theater of Operations, (ETO), and was assigned to the 434th Troop Carrier Group. He participated in the airborne operations in Normandy, Holland, and the Rhine River Crossing. Mr. Oliver sketched and painted glider-related art throughout his time as a Glider Pilot, even carrying a sketch pad with him in the cockpit of his gliders, sketching what he observed. After the war, Mr. Oliver began his career as a commercial illustrator working for the Walt Disney Studio in the animation department. After thirty-five years, culminating with animation on the animated movie The Fox and the Hound(1981), he retired and is doing personal projects, including sculpturing.