Dean Oliver, an All-Big Ten guard, nine-year professional and coach of 10-plus years, concluded his seventh season on the Wisconsin bench in 2023-24. He joined the Badgers as an assistant coach in April of 2017.
As an assistant coach at UW, Oliver helped lead the Badgers to two Big Ten regular season championships in 2020 and 2022.
Oliver joined the Badgers in Madison after a pair of three-year coaching stints at North Dakota (2012-14) and Illinois State (2015-17). In three seasons at ISU, Oliver helped guide Illinois State to a 68-34 overall record, a share of the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title and two National Invitation Tournament bids (2015 and 2017). During the 2016-17 season, the Redbirds set program records for overall victories (28) and conference wins (17).
Working primarily with ISU’s guards, Oliver has helped the Redbirds earn multiple Missouri Valley Conference accolades at the guard position, including 2017 MVC Player of the Year and MVC Defensive Player of the Year Paris Lee. Oliver also helped mentor guards DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell and Daishon Knight, who both earned All-MVC Second Team honors.
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| The Oliver File |
| Hometown |
| Mason City, Iowa |
| Family |
| Wife, Sarah |
| Son, Isaiah, and daughter, Isabella |
| Education |
| B.A., Business Administration, Iowa, 2001 |
| Coaching Experience |
| Assistant Coach, Wisconsin (2017-24) |
| Assistant Coach, Illinois State (2014-2016) |
| Assistant Coach, North Dakota (2011-2013) |
| Playing Experience |
| Univ. of Iowa, 1998-2001 |
| Golden State Warriors (NBA), 2002-2003 |
| Greenville Groove (D-League), 2003 |
| Asheville Altitude (D-League), 2003 |
| Dakota Wizards (CBA), 2004 |
| Cedar Rapids River Raiders (USBL), 2004 |
| KD Slovan (Slovenia), 2004-05 |
| KK Zadar (Croatia), 2005-06 |
| Slask Wroclaw (Poland), 2006-07 |
| EiffelTowers (Netherlands), 2007-10 |
| JL Bourg-en-Bresse (France), 2010-11 |
A native of Mason City, Iowa, Oliver spent three seasons as an assistant coach at North Dakota, in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Oliver prospered as a professional basketball player for nearly a decade, including a two-year stint in the NBA with the Golden State Warriors. He also served as a standout point guard at Iowa from 1997-2001.
Prior to beginning his coaching career in 2011, Oliver enjoyed a nine-year professional playing career that included two seasons (2001-03) with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA. Oliver also saw duty in the NBA Development League and a variety of leagues overseas. Oliver spent his final season playing for JL Bourg in a French league, after playing a season in Slovenia, a season in Croatia, a season in Poland and three seasons with the EiffelTowers in the Netherlands.
During his collegiate playing career, Oliver started all but two games for the Iowa Hawkeyes, earning third-team All-Big Ten honors after his sophomore, junior and senior seasons. Oliver became just the third player in Big Ten history to finish his career with more than 1,500 points, 500 assists and 200 steals.
As a senior, Oliver led the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio and assists per game, leading the Hawkeyes to the 2001 Big Ten Tournament Championship and the second round of the NCAA Tournament. He also led Iowa to the NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen as a sophomore in 1999.
In 2015, Oliver was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association basketball Hall of Fame.
A native of Mason City, Iowa, Oliver earned his degree in business administration from Iowa in 2001. He and his wife, Sarah, have two children: Isaiah and Isabella.
