Early Days
Jeff moved to Whangarei as a teenager and began working in the family business, Newberry’s Funeral Home. He’d always been a bit of a tinkerer, and the seeds were sown for Jeff Oliver Print (JOP) when his father bought a letterpress printing machine.
Much to his mother’s horror they installed it in their basement at home, providing hours of entertainment learning how to print all sorts of material for Newberry’s. In 1986 he opened for business in Porowini Avenue, and as the business expanded it moved to its present location at 24 Walton St.
A true Northland family business, JOP was started by Jeff Oliver, then his wife Judy Oliver joined the team in the administration department, making sure everyone was paid on time and right! Their daughter Jennie Oliver (now Cross), did her print apprenticeship under the watchful eye of her dad and then finally Dean Oliver also gave in to the pull of the print game and completed a successful print apprenticeship with a few ‘helpful’ words from popsy.
In January of 2011 Jeff passed away after a battle with cancer, but his legacy lives on in the business he started over 30 years earlier.