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Oliver Nelson (June 4, 1932 -- October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinettist, and composer.

Nelson was born on 4 June 1932 in St. Louis, Missouri. His family was musical: his brother was a saxophonist who played with Cootie Williams in the 1940s, and his sister sang and played piano. Nelson began learning to play the piano when he was six, and started on the saxophone at eleven. From 1947 he played in "territory" bands around Saint Louis, before joining the Louis Jordan big band from 1950 to 1951, playing alto sax and arranging. After military service in the Marines, he returned to Missouri to study music – composition and theory – at Washington and Lincoln Universities, graduating in 1958.

After graduation, Nelson moved to New York, playing with Erskine Hawkins and Wild Bill Davis, and working as the house arranger for the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He also played on the West Coast briefly with the Louie Bellson band in 1959, and in the same year began recording as leader with small groups. From 1960 to 1961 he played tenor sax with Quincy Jones, both in the U.S. and on tour in Europe.

After six albums as leader between 1959 and 1961 (including such musicians as Kenny Dorham, Johnny Hammond Smith, Eric Dolphy, Roy Haynes, King Curtis, and Jimmy Forrest), Nelson's big breakthrough came with The Blues and the Abstract Truth containing the well-known standard "Stolen Moments". This made his name as a composer as well as a musician, and he went on to record a number of big-band albums, as well as working as an arranger for Cannonball Adderley, Sonny Rollins, Eddie Davis, Johnny Hodges, Wes Montgomery, Buddy Rich, Jimmy Smith, Billy Taylor, Stanley Turrentine, and many more. He also led all-star big band in various live performances between 1966 and 1975.

In 1967, Nelson moved to Los Angeles. Apart from his big-band appearances (in Berlin, Montreux, New York, and Los Angeles), he toured West Africa with a small group. He also spent a great deal of time composing music for television and films (including Death of a Gunfighter, Ironside, Night Gallery, Columbo, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, and Longstreet), and producing and arranging for pop stars such as Nancy Wilson, James Brown, the Temptations, and Diana Ross. His commercial writing didn't push out his jazz composition and performing, but it came to take up a greater amount of his time. He died of a heart attack on 28 October 1975.

• 1959: Meet Oliver Nelson: Featuring Kenny Dorham
• 1960: Taking Care of Business
• 1960: Screamin' the Blues
• 1960: Soul Battle
• 1960: Nocturne
• 1961: Straight Ahead
• 1961: The Blues and the Abstract Truth
• 1961: Main Stem
• 1962: Afro/American Sketches
• 1964: More Blues and the Abstract Truth
• 1964: Fantabulous
• 1967: Live in Los Angeles
• 1971: Swiss Suite
• 1971: Impressions of Berlin
• 1974: In London with Oily Rags
• 1975: Skull Session
• 1976: A Dream Deferred

• Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather, & Brian Priestley. Jazz: The Rough Guide. ISBN 1-85828-528-3
• Richard Cook & Brian Morton. The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD 6th edition. ISBN 0-14-051521-6
• Oliver Nelson — biography by Scott Yanow for AllMusic
• Oliver Nelson — brief introduction from the Jazz Files
• Oliver Nelson — introduction from Impulse! Records
• Oliver Nelson: A Discography — Douglas Payne's site, including discographies of Nelson's work in different genres, reviews, etc.