Damien Oliver to be inducted into WA Hall of Champions

Damien Oliver will be inducted into the Western Australian Hall of Champions at a gala ceremony in Perth on November 10. He is the first racing figure added in 15 years.

The 54-year-old follows harness racing great Chris Lewis, inducted in 2011, and joins a racing contingent that includes jockeys John “JJ” Miller, Frank Treen and Frank Moore, as well as harness figures Jim Schrader and Frank and Fred Kersley.

Oliver, a former West Coast No.1 ticket-holder, enters the Hall in a 2026 class that also includes Eagles premiership players John Worsfold and Glen Jakovich.

“It’s an incredible honour for me to be acknowledged in the West Australian Hall of Champions when I look to see how many amazing champion athletes have come before me,” Oliver told Racing WA.

Miller won the 1966 Melbourne Cup on Galilee and is one of 17 Legends in the Hall. He was an early influence on Oliver.

“As a young jockey, our families were pretty close and I was actually his valet for a short time in the jockeys’ room in Perth growing up,” Oliver said.

Oliver recorded 129 Group 1 wins and three Melbourne Cup victories. He won one of those Cups on Media Puzzle, days after his older brother Jason died when he fell during a trial at Belmont Park. Their father, Ray, also died after a fall in the 1975 Boulder Cup at Kalgoorlie.

Oliver retired at Ascot in 2023 after winning his last three races. The final win came on Munhamek in the Damien Oliver Gold Rush.