My father, Fred Olver, died aged 91, in Hatfield, Hertfordshire on 29th September after a short illness.
Fred was born near Widnes in Lancashire in 1926. Both his Grandparents were keen amateur gardeners and during the war he took over the family garden and several local allotments to grow fruit and vegetables for his family, selling the surplus to other local families. After leaving school he briefly worked for a bank, but soon realised that his future career lay in horticulture. He applied to Reading University in 1945 and studied for the N.D.H. On leaving Reading he briefly worked at Kew Gardens and Portsmouth City Parks department before returning to Lancashire to take up a post with the Agricultural & Horticultural Institute at Hutton. It was here that he met his future wife, Jean. Realising that he now needed to improve his future prospects he looked around for better paid employment, and in September 1950 took up the position of head of horticulture at Greenmount College, where he would remain for the next 24 years.
When Fred arrived at Greenmount he was rather disappointed as the department he was in charge of had been somewhat neglected and the number of students enrolled for the first year was only two. However, this didn't put him off and he set to and made considerable improvements by completely redeveloping the walled garden with the construction of several modern glasshouses and planting of new orchards. By the 1960's the number of horticultural students had increased and in 1967 stood at 22. During the 1960's Greenmount underwent considerable expansion with several student hostels being built as well as a new glasshouse crop production unit. This gave Fred the opportunity to landscape the surrounding areas with trees, shrubs and flower beds, some of which are still present today and will remain for many years as a monument to his hard work and dedication to the college.
As well as his work at Greenmount, Fred was also involved in many other activities related to horticulture and the environment in N.Ireland. He was a very active member for the National Trust and the Conservation Society representing both organisations on official committees. As part of his duties he gave lectures to gardening and farming clubs around the province, wrote articles for various gardening journals and made several radio broadcasts for the Ulster Garden programme. On a lighter note everyone will recall Fred's famous bicycle on which he commuted to work from his home at the gate lodge. One year he lent it to Santa so he could deliver the presents to the children at the staff Christmas party.
Fred was very proud of the careers many of his students went on to pursue. Several went to various universities after their time at Greenmount and others developed very successful businesses in horticulture both in N.Ireland and abroad. After leaving Greenmount in 1974 Fred went to Oaklands College in Hertfordshire and continue lecturing for a further 12 years, but he never forgot his many friends and colleagues from Greenmount. He returned almost every year after he retired, often for prize day in June and latterly to attend reunions for past students. His last visit was as recent as August 2014 when I accompanied him due to his increasing frailty. During this visit I was very moved by the high regard in which my father was held by past and present staff at Greenmount. His memory will live on in the beautiful college grounds and the many trees he planted during his 24 years as head of horticulture.
Jonathan Olver.
