Place of birth Cincinnati, Ohio College University of Kentucky | Name Ray Oliver | |
Date of birth (1961-06-19)June 19, 1961 Positions Strength and conditioning coach | ||
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Ray "Rock" Oliver, a 25-year veteran in pro and college sports, is the University of Kentucky strength and conditioning coach, since January 2010.
Oliver has returned to Kentucky as the Director of Performance Enhancement for the Wildcats basketball team, where he previously served in the same position for the Wildcats basketball team under former coach Rick Pitino.
Oliver came to the Bengals after three years as Director of Performance Enhancement for the University of Memphis basketball program. His resume includes prior experience as a strength and conditioning coach in the NFL (Tampa Bay 1992) and in the NBA (New Jersey Nets, ’96-97).
He attended Withrow and Taft high schools in Cincinnati, and went on to play football at Ohio State (defensive back in 1980-81). He transferred to the University of Cincinnati in 1982, and while sitting out the ’82 season under transfer rules, he became interested in strength training under UC head football coach Mike Gottfried.
When Gottfried moved to Kansas University in 1983, Oliver decided to end his football playing career. He followed Gottfried to KU as a transfer student and volunteer coach, and earned his bachelor's degree from Kansas in 1986.
Oliver worked in strength and conditioning at the University of Pittsburgh in the mid-1980s, and during that time he also worked a Bengals training camp and several Bengals minicamps as a volunteer strength and conditioning assistant.
Oliver has a long association with University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari, having worked with Calipari previously at the University of Kansas, the University of Pittsburgh and with the New Jersey Nets. Oliver also worked under coach Rick Pitino at the University of Kentucky from 1989-92. During that period, he was also the strength and conditioning coach for the United States Ski Jump team.
Oliver spent his 1992 NFL season at Tampa Bay under head coach Sam Wyche, the former Bengals head coach.
Oliver’s work with NFL athletes also includes the years 1997-99, when he was involved in programs for 35 NFL players while working for the Synergy company in Columbia, S.C.
Oliver is married to Winone Oliver. They have two grown children, Ashley and Michael.