Biography
Oliver Phipps is also featured on Humanmade, where you can find a thoughtfully written biography that dives into his background, creative journey, and the stories behind his work. It’s a great place to get to know the person behind the pages. Clock on the link below to read the biography of Humanmade
Childhood
Oliver Phipps was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He was the second child of Lee and Marie Phipps. His older brother Channon was three years older than Oliver.
The first five years of Oliver’s life were spent in Fort Smith. His younger brother, Darrell, was born not long before the family moved. Oliver recalls leaning over the front seat of the family’s Volkswagen Beetle to get a better look at his younger brother while theybrought him and his mother home from the hospital.
The family moved around Arkansas and Texas for several months as his father had taken a job with the Frisco railroad. They settled in Bentonville Arkansas just as Oliver began first grade.
The elementary school in Bentonville had too many students and Oliver, along with other students would go through their first-grade year in a church across from the Bentonville high school.
It was at Bentonville that Oliver lived across from the famed “Civil War Cave.” This cave is referred to as the “Rebel Cave,” in Oliver’s book Ghosts of Company K.
Oliver would go through his second grade at Bentonville and then move to southeastern Oklahoma. He would move around this area as well as parts of Texas as his father’s job required.
Oliver lived in Wetumka Oklahoma during his fourth grade through seventh grade years.
It was in his fourth grade that the teacher asked the students to write a short story.
Oliver’s teacher seemed impressed with his story and asked him to read it in front of the
class. This event has been told by Oliver over the years in interviews as being one of
the early memories of his writing endeavors.
Teenage
Oliver moved around Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma during his early teen years. His father’s job with the Frisco railroad required the family to move with his father’s work. At the age of 16, Oliver moved to South Texas to work for a skating rink owned by a family member. Oliver loved this work and the area. He resided in South Texas for a year and a half. He bought a 1972 AMC Javelin that he became very fond of. He also spent many weekends at the beach with his friends.
At the age of Seventeen Oliver moved to Louisiana. He went to work for a construction company and soon moved to the area where the events from his best-selling book The House on Cooper Lane took place. Below is the only known photograph of his, at that time, young dog, Badger. It was taken some time before the haunting events took place.
At the age of Nineteen Oliver joined the US Army and after his Basic training, AIT training and Jump School at Fort Benning Georgia, Oliver was stationed with the 82 Airborne Division at Fort Bragg North Carolina.
While in the US Army, Oliver bought one of his dream cars and a chopper that he enjoyed very much. He and his army buddies would often ride their motorcycles for miles while off duty. He also enjoyed concerts, traveling to the nearby mountains to hike and camp as well as visiting historic sites.
Adult Life
While in the army, Oliver began playing the drums. After his tour in the army, he became more serious about a music career. He took drum lessons, went to drum clinics and focused on becoming a proficient percussionist.
For the next twelve years Oliver was almost constantly in a rock and roll band and played many shows over this time. Along with playing drums, he wrote lyrics for many of the songs the bands created. As with any musical or artist career there were ups and downs. Yet Oliver greatly enjoyed this part of his life and regardless of the many struggles, he fondly recalls the “long hair, rock-n-roll,” days of his life, as he calls them.
In the summer of 1997 Oliver and his band played for a large event with over three thousand people in attendance. It was at this event that Oliver met Michael V, a guitarist whos’ band was also playing the show. Michael would become a very good friend. They would eventually do a lot of traveling and have many adventures.
Later Oliver played a few more shows with his current band. The singer/lead guitarist and the bass player wanted to move to Michigan in the hopes of better pay and larger gigs. Oliver decided not to go, and the band split up.
After a rest, Oliver was contacted by Michael V and the two began formulating the construction of a new band. Oliver packed his drums and traveled to Michael’s home city, and they began rehearsing. During this time Michael told Oliver about his gold prospecting adventures and before long they decided to put together an expedition to Alaska, and Yukon territory Canada.
The trip lasted six months and Michael, his wife Michelle, Oliver and their Australian Shepard “Sammy or Sam,” traveled to places seldom seen by the average person. They visited Alaskan and Yukon ghost towns, hiked the Klondike mountains, panned for gold from the Yukon River and ventured all the way to the Arctic Circle.
After the long Alaska and Canada trip, Oliver began writing again, this time for his family’s newsletter. The short stories were enjoyed by many it seemed, and this motivated Oliver to consider other artistic outlets.
After a few years, the adventure bug took hold of Oliver again and he set off for Asia.
He would end up spending another half year in Asia. He visited many countries and islands, including Japan. Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bali. This would start Oliver’s love for the Asian world, and he would return to that area again and again over the years.
In 2004 Oliver wrote and published his first book. He had started several business endeavors and with some success under his belt decided to pass on some keys to his success in the book Secrets for Success at Your Local Auctions.
Oliver’s first book was not a great success though and it cooled his desire to write in this respect. Yet, he continued to develop stories in his mind, one of which was his real-life haunting experience in the house on Cooper Lane. Around 2014 Oliver made a significant decision concerning his writing career. He decided that the true joy of art was not to make a lot of money, but rather to give to others. If 10 or 10 million people enjoyed one of his stories, then he would consider it a success. This would be a critical decision in Oliver’s life, and it turned out to be a good one.
In 2014 Oliver released his book The House on Cooper Lane. Since the release the book has landed on Amazon’s best seller page many times and has hit the #1 best seller position more than once.
Almost all of Oliver’s books have been on the best seller lists. A Tempest Soul would be Oliver second #1 best seller. Many would land in the top ten and all often float back on and off the best seller lists. He has had multiple international awards for his books and received his most recent award for Ever the Wayward sky in 2025.
Today Oliver continues to develop stories and write. He has stepped back from writing somewhat as his family’s situations have required him to do so. Yet, big things are in the works and when Oliver hits a writing streak, watch out!
