John Walter Olver (born September 3, 1936) is an American politician. He was the U.S. representative for Massachusetts's 1st congressional district from 1991 to 2013. Olver grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania. He graduated from college at the age of 18. After college, Olver earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He taught chemistry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for eight years.