in memoriam – John W. Olver 1936-2023

John W. Olver: September 3, 1936 – February 23, 2023

I first met Congressman John Olver in the middle of Independence Avenue in Washington DC. Chris Farley AIA and I were on our way to meet him, during AIA National’s Lobby Day. But Congressman Olver was scurrying in the opposite direction. “You have one minute”, he said, when we explained who we were. “I’m on my way to a vote”. In that 60 second conversation, he made it clear that the AIA’s agenda aligned with his own priorities.

I got to know him much better after he returned to Amherst full-time, after retiring from Congress. He got involved in town politics, local non-profits and UMass activities, including the effort to make the proposed Design Building into a demonstration mass timber building. (That building now bears his name)

John read the Western Massachusetts AIA newsletter from cover to cover. I know this, because he would frequently stop by my office, meet me for breakfast, or call me to comment on something that he had read in the newsletter—a featured architect, a highlighted artisan, the award winners, legislative priorities. He would end each encounter by saying, “You know that I am an honorary member of Western Mass AIA? I think you had something to do with that” [editor’s note: it wasn’t me].

He was a towering figure in so many ways, completely dedicated to improving the built environment. It’s entirely appropriate that two AIA regional and national award winning buildings in Western Massachusetts—the transit center in Greenfield and the design building at UMass—bear the name “John W. Olver”. Thank you for everything, Congressman.

Stephen Schreiber, FAIA, Professor and Chair
Department of Architecture
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Massachusetts Congressman John W. Olver was a champion for the environment. We in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning were blessed by his commitment to make the world a better place. An avid outdoorsman, he helped promote the greenway and hiking trails across the Commonwealth. With his efforts, the New England Scenic Trail came into being along with other beautiful, preserved areas nationally. His interest in sustainability led him to help the John W. Olver Design Building come to fruition.

He was a frequent visitor to the building in his retirement as he continued to be active and engaged in creating a more sustainable future for all. We in LARP will truly miss him and his compassionate, humble approach to politics and governance. As a former UMASS faculty member, he was truly one of our own.

Robert L. Ryan, Professor and Chair
Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

The John W. Olver Design Building is not just another campus building. The beauty and warmth of the timber structure, and its environmental footprint that treads lightly, represents a visionary approach to contemporary building design in that it integrally respects the responsibility we have towards the earth we live on. None of this would have been possible without the support and environmental consciousness of Congressman John Olver, who was the prime reason that the Olver Design Building was built with Mass Timber, the only naturally renewable building material.

John attended Peggi Clouston’s presentation about Mass Timber which led to several more meetings and ultimately a meeting of the minds where our technical background combined with John’s long term efforts to support forest health, sustainable construction, and rural economies. Our conversations ultimately led to the idea of creating a timber demonstration structure which would support the UMass Amherst climate action plan and showcase new timber technologies. We also discussed the potential of this new university building to reinvigorate local forestry industries. Despite being in retirement, John went immediately to work and pulled many levers to secure funding and to switch from the initial default of a steel frame design to a timber frame design. At a time when only about 30 mass timber structures existed in the US, UMass became home to the most technologically advanced mass timber academic building in the country. The Olver Design Building is today an 18 time award- winning, world-renowned building that has since become an inspiration for many others like it, fulfilling another wish of John’s that it not become a “one-and- done”.

We are truly grateful to have met John, both professionally and personally. Through many breakfast meetings and forest hikes, we came to know him well as a compassionate man who cared deeply about his state and the people in it. We will miss his kindness, his distinguished presence, and his resounding laugh. Rest in peace John.

Peggi Clouston
Professor, Building and Construction Technology Program
with Alex Schreyer
Senior Lecturer and Director Building and Construction Technology Program
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Read the formal obituary at Legacy.com