# Nate Oliver



## Smitty (Dec 5, 2011)

I just learned through one of the Project Managers on the Microsoft Excel development team that longtime Mr. Excel MVP/Moderator & Microsoft Excel MVP, Nate Oliver (NateO as he was known here) has passed away.

His Brother-In-Law, Adam Snyder made an announcement on the MVP Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/MVPAwardProgram?sk=wall

If you didn't get the chance to interact with Nate you missed out, as he was a lot of fun, and a whiz with VBA (among other things). He got a lot of siht for how young he looked, but he more than made up for it with his skills and great personality.

I'll miss having my a$$ kicked in pool at the MVP Summits. 

If I hear any more about family plans I'll make sure to let everyone know.

Rest in peace Nate. You'll be missed.


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## Tom Urtis (Dec 5, 2011)

Such sad and stunning news. Nate was a good personal friend, but for those that did not know him personally, he was a teacher, mentor, and warm generous man. My sincere condolences to his family, and to the global Excel & technical family of which Nate was so large and valuable a part.


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## SydneyGeek (Dec 5, 2011)

Terrible news. 

I didn't know Nate personally but in all my dealings with him here he was helpful and came across as a great guy who enjoyed a good time.  
And his knowledge of Excel was right up there. He will be missed. 

Denis


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## Zack Barresse (Dec 5, 2011)

****.  I had the honor of meeting Nate several times.  The world is missing a brilliant, thoughtful and generous man.


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## T. Valko (Dec 5, 2011)

Man, this is terrible news.

I never met Nate in person but we've had some really great interaction in ngs and forums over the years.

Nate will be missed by a lot of people.

RIP, Nate.


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## Von Pookie (Dec 5, 2011)

W h a t???


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## Peter_SSs (Dec 5, 2011)

That is awful news! 

I did not know Nate personally, and only really knew of his contribution to this forum. It was enormous and he is greatly missed!!

But thanks for letting us know Smitty.


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## Tom Urtis (Dec 5, 2011)

For those who didn't know Nate, here are photos of him and others in the Excel community.

http://www.atlaspm.com/uncategorized/sad-loss-in-the-excel-and-technical-community/


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## Michael M (Dec 5, 2011)

My condolences to his family and friends.
Anyone that gives their time so freely in forums like these willbe sadly missed.

Thanks for letting us know Smitty

Vale NateO


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## ZVI (Dec 5, 2011)

Too sad news.
We'll miss the witty and cheerful Nathan, his sunny hearty smile and his talent to help with the ease and grace.
Rest in peace, Nate...


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## Rick Rothstein (Dec 5, 2011)

Wow! What stunningly sad news!


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## xenou (Dec 5, 2011)

Nate will be sorely missed - my sympathies to his friends and family.


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## RoryA (Dec 6, 2011)

RIP Nate. Your wit and wisdom will be sorely missed.


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## Jaafar Tribak (Dec 6, 2011)

Very sad and shocking news ...my condolences to his family and friends.


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## wigi (Dec 6, 2011)

Also my condolences to this terrible news. A big loss to many people.


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## brettdj (Dec 6, 2011)

wow, shocking news.

My condolences to Nate's family, friends and colleagues.

(Thanks for the pictures Tom)

Dave


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## Jon von der Heyden (Dec 6, 2011)

I remember Nate used to be a major driving force behind the MrE board when I first joined.  He did a lot of the admin and moderating here.  Not only brilliant with Excel, not only very helpful here on the board but an all round genuine nice guy.

We've lost two of our beloved members in a short time now.  None of youz lot better be going any time soon!


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## Joe4 (Dec 6, 2011)

A terrible loss for the entire Excel community and our little MrExcel family here.  Nate was a great guy and will be missed sorely.

My deepest condolences to his family members and friends.  RIP, Nate.


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## TinaP (Dec 6, 2011)

I didn't know Nate personally, but he provided much appreciated assistance to me many times.  

There's a big hole in the Excel community.


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## mortgageman (Dec 6, 2011)

NateO helped me a number of times.  He was an exemplar of what makes this board so great.  Mr. Excel will be less than it was without him.

Say hello to Steve,  Nate.


Gene Klein


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## Oaktree (Dec 6, 2011)

Such tragic news.  He was instrumental in making this board what it is today.  So many of us learned directly and indirectly from him.  He was brilliant and generous with his time in a way not many are.  The whole Excel community mourns the loss of a great one.


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## arkusM (Dec 6, 2011)

Wow... tragic news.

Nate's wisdom, knowledge and patience got me though more than a few coding binds..........

Mark R


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## MrKowz (Dec 6, 2011)

Rest in peace, friend.  I learned a great deal from Nate, and will miss his presence on the forums.


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## Greg Truby (Dec 6, 2011)

Nate was a good man and a good friend. There are literally thousands of people that knew Nate only through his exceptional body of contributions here at MrExcel and at other forums like UtterAccess and XtremeVBTalk. 
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There are a lucky few of us that - thanks to the Microsoft MVP program - got to actually meet Nate personally. For the many who only ever knew Nate virtually, he was quite the Renaissance geek. Yes, due his pedigree in Finance and Economics he first became exceptional at Excel. Then, after becoming dominant in Excel he then turned his attention to Access and again earned a reputation as an expert. But beyond his prodigious knowledge of Excel and Access, Nate had a passion for fast cars, football and pool. 

Unlike Smitty, I was never daft enough to challenge Nate to a game of pool or billiards. And trust Nate to find a way to unite two of his passions. He actually knew a VP of the Women’s Professional Billiards Association and offered to assist them in improving their processes for calculating and posting their members’ tournament statistics. If you knew Nate you would hardly find this surprising. 
<o></o>
I would chuckle when Nate would make some type of a side comment about getting into some type of a debate in a cars forum about some issue or other. In the early days of his role as moderator at MrExcel I tried to explain to him that some people are simply rude and thick and no amount of reasoning and logic would ever lead them towards civility or enlightenment. I’m not sure if Nate ever fully accepted my perspective. I think some part of him stubbornly insisted anyone could be persuaded by his logic if he just hung in there long enough. 
<o></o>
His love of football led to he and I commiserating about the performance of our favorite teams. Nate was an ardent Vikings fan and was always very nice about thanking me for my idiot Chiefs trading them Jared Allen (though in fairness, the Chiefs “D” is the only part of the team that’s shown up for the last six games). 
<o></o>
At the last MVP summit Nate looked a bit ragged and I was concerned for his health and told him as much. I told him if there was anything I or any of his other MVP friends could do, to let any of us know. Likewise he could tell me to mind my owned damñed business and I’d respect that too. Nate thanked me for my concern and explained that at the age of 27 he had been diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse which had a number of rather unpleasant symptoms all of which were exacerbated by air travel. My observation was that Nate took his condition in stride. He simply dealt with the symptoms such as massive jolts of adrenaline, fatigue, anxiety-like attacks or IBS as they came up. Perhaps he also took it as license to drink as much as he liked and to smoke unrepentantly. I don’t think he ever expected to live to old age. If he did, great, but if he didn’t – well those were just the cards he was dealt -- he wasn't going to wallow in self-pity. Nate didn’t let the possibility of a short life make him a hedonist. Instead, he channeled his formidable intellect towards helping thousands of people online solve their problems. He leaves a legacy befitting a man of his good character.

I think all of us who were afforded the privilege of meeting him in person would like those of you who only ever met him in cyberspace to know that while the cyber-Nate was great; the real Nate was even better.


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## strive4peace (Dec 6, 2011)

It is hard to see through the tears.  Greg, what a beautiful piece about Nate, thank you.  Thank you for posting this Smitty.

Nate touched us all.

NateO, Bill Jelen, Smitty, Matt Vidas, Zack 







Nate and Greg





We miss him at UtterAccess too.  Here is a thread:

Farewell To Our Beloved Nate
http://www.utteraccess.com/forum/Farewell-Beloved-Nate-t1978329.html


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## strive4peace (Dec 6, 2011)

Nate, Zack, Smitty, Bill





Martin Kral (KingMartin), Pattrick Matthews, NateO







Rob Bovey, Nate, Martin, DougY and Leigh Purvis (UA)





Nate


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## Joe4 (Dec 6, 2011)

Greg,

That was a very moving piece you wrote about Nate.  Thanks for sharing.

One thing that I noticed when you look at all these pictures of Nate here and on other forums - he's was always smiling.  

It is amazing to see how many lives he touched and how many people he helped.  He was truly a wonderful and unique person who will be missed greatly.


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## Fazza (Dec 6, 2011)

sad news: a great contributor: an active life well lived


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## XL-Dennis (Dec 6, 2011)

Rest in Peace NateO
My condolences to his family and friends.


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## Brian from Maui (Dec 6, 2011)

I don't frequent MrExcel as often as I once did, and am saddened to hear of NateO's passing.

Way back in the early years, NateO was one of many who helped me grasp Excel.

For some reason, I always thought he was Canadien, although living in MSP.  

I will always picture him smiling with a mug of beer in one hand and a smoke in the other!  

My condolences to his family.


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## Greg Truby (Dec 6, 2011)

Brian from Maui said:


> For some reason, I always thought he was Canadien, although living in MSP.


 
He was.  His parents and he and his twin sister, Nicole, emigrated to the U.S. in '92.


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## dk (Dec 6, 2011)

This is terrible news and my thoughts are with Nate's friends and family.  Nate and I had many discussions in the earlier days of mrexcel - some of those discussions became a little heated and I am not proud of some of the things I said.  However, when I did later apologise for my behaviour Nate was a true gentleman, accepted the apology and moved on with no further mention of what had been said.  He had an enquiring mind and a positive attittude and I certainly learnt plenty of stuff from him and from the discussions that he started and participated in.  RIP Nate.

Thanks for letting us know Smitty, and thanks Greg for your thoughtful post.

Dan


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## SydneyGeek (Dec 6, 2011)

Greg Truby said:


> He was. His parents and he and his twin sister, Nicole, emigrated to the U.S. in '92.


The last exchange I had with him (in the Lounge, on the Guitarist thread) Nate said he was heading back to Canada for a holiday, and looking forward to catching up with family. 

Denis


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## Domski (Dec 7, 2011)

That's really sad news 

RIP NateO


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## Smitty (Dec 7, 2011)

Microsoft's Excel team just put up a post on Nate on the Excel Blog:

http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-excel/archive/2011/12/07/remembering-nathan-nate-oliver.aspx


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## Yahya (Dec 9, 2011)

it is sad news
i spent a lot of time talking to him via facebook, he was a great person 
i will miss him 
i am feel so sad for this news 
my condolences to his family and friends


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## strive4peace (Dec 9, 2011)

There is a *beautiful tribute to Excel MVP Nate Oliver and Publisher MVP Mary Sauer written by Microsoft* posted here:
http://www.accessmvp.com/Nate

*Memorial Information*
Memorial visitation *Saturday, December 17 *from *4-6 PM*, with a reception to follow at Washburn-McReavy Edina Chapel in Minneapolis, 952-920-3996, West 50th St. & Hwy 100. Here’s a link to Nate's Obituary in the _StarTribune_ (with a place for comments).

_


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## Greg Truby (Dec 10, 2011)

Crystal, thanks for that link. But - inquiring minds want to know - when did Tom Urtis change his name to "Tom Atlas"?


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## Smitty (Dec 10, 2011)

Nate's Brother-In-Law, Adam, just gave me the information for anyone who wants to contribute something in Nate's name:



> Paul and Lynda have picked a charity for people to donate to in Nate's honor. We would like people to donate to the Courage Center. Here is a link:
> http://www.couragecenter.org/
> 
> They help people with disabilities and rehabilitation. Its a local MN charity, one of Nicole and Nathan's friend's dad worked there for many years.


 
Crystal, would you let everyone at UtterAccess know?


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## Tom Urtis (Dec 10, 2011)

Greg Truby said:


> inquiring minds want to know - when did Tom Urtis change his name to "Tom Atlas"?


 
Ahem...That's *MR.* Atlas to you.

But seriously, there have been quite a wonderful collection of heartfelt tributes to Nate around the web as we've seen, and probably others we haven't seen yet, all having been touched by this sad loss. Amazing how far and wide one person's positive impact can be in this age of instant & ubiquitous information. A reminder to me at least, how every newsgroup comment, or tweet, or blog post can slowly build, or quickly diminish everyone's perceived image of who you are.


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## SuperFerret (Dec 12, 2011)

Only just noticed this as I've been off the board for 2 weeks. Such sad news 

My thoughts are with his family, RIP Nate.

Unfortunately I never got to know Nate, but he always seemed to be a wonderful, cheerful guy in posts I've seen from him and had a knowledge of Excel (and Access) I can only ever dream of.


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## Richie(UK) (Dec 21, 2011)

The void that Nate will leave in the online Excel world will be huge.  I never had the honour of meeting Nate in real life but I'm pretty sure that the real life void will be just as big.  My condolences to his family and friends.  RIP Nate.


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## RonaldD (Dec 21, 2011)

Quite a man.
RIP


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## George J (Feb 4, 2012)

****, just read about this on the techguy forum.  Thoughts are with his family and friends.
Rest easy mate.


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## Jack in the UK (Feb 9, 2012)

Very late posting I am so sorry for that, many here will know me and it is great to read all the posts with such great people I know saying all about Nate, this is about Nate

I Have not been around here hardly at all for a very long time, years back Nate was massive on here, Excel and then moving into Access – It is true to say Nate and I never really saw eye to eye in fact often fought as I did with loads of MrExcel MVPs at the time

Two things I will never forget about Nate. His overwhelming skills ability to help others with such willingness and for me the best one ‘them Jammie Dodgers biscuits’ I believe he loved eating or then again? Nate I recall used to posts saying he just can’t decide, great memory that. Shows Nates witty ability and fun side that You see it the photograph’s so kindly posted in this feed and of cause You can’t miss that smile

Often we say the kindest things and I have shared bits that have stuck with me for many years. I never met Nate. I do however know some Microsoft MVPs and they all speak highly of Nate even just a couple of days ago when a MVPs friend I telephoned told me of the news re Nate I shared the Jammie Dodgers story with fun

Nates his work (posts) will be here for every on the internet and will always remind us of his kind work for others

I do not run over here much these days,, so have missed so much in say 5 years maybe 7 now.. You guys saw Nate and watched him develop. This is the kind of person that cannot be replaced, recall fondly just like I did re Nates whit and jammie dogers post,,,,,,, great kind helpful man, sadly we never quite saw eye to eye on just about anything

Good man Nate, no one can say different, rest now and if you know just one thing?

Millions are better off because of You and that is why You smile just as much as You did


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## Smitty (Feb 9, 2012)

Nice to see you, Jack! It's sure been a while, and it's nice to see you post, even under sihtty circumstances like this.

We'll make sure to raise a pint to Nate in your name in Redmond this month.  I know he'd appreciate it, as he would your comments.

Take care,


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## Jack in the UK (Feb 10, 2012)

Hey Smitty, cheers buddy nice to see the names in this feed like You said not the best of topics

Be nice chap to remember Nate in that way, sure Use my name be few present I will be known to

Since I meet the Americans (MVPs) couple years back in Central London after their M$ Presentation and visiting Reading M$ House in the UK for talks / presentations. Things are a lot better and maybe I should visit forums more, post help to others. I guess knowing people makes all the difference and reading these posts Nates friends are posting in all the places he haunted and hung out. 

I do post on other forums, and I will share time here as well .. 

Take care chap and speak soon

jiuk


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## taurean (Feb 25, 2012)

Just came across NateO's old post...and below his name I saw "Legend". Its a fitting tribute .


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## HalfAce (Mar 12, 2012)

Man, I'm really sorry to read this.
Nate, (along with Tom and Juan) were the first ones to jump in and help me when I joined the board. Didn't know anyone then so, at the time I didn't realize I was getting help from the best there was.

Thanks for the pictures Tom.
However Nate went, I hope he was comfortable.


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## Zack Barresse (Dec 3, 2012)

Thanks, Tom, for posting the anniversary of Nate (Atlas: Excel Training | Testing | Consulting).  I hadn't realized it'd been that long already.  I still think of him and miss him.  One of the best roomie's I ever had.


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## Smitty (Dec 3, 2012)

Bottom's Up Nate!


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## Joe4 (Dec 3, 2012)

Has it really been a year already?  Seems like it just happened a few months ago...
I picture him up in heaven sharing a beer with Einstein and other great thinkers.
Cheers!  We sure do miss you around these parts...


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## Aladin Akyurek (Dec 4, 2012)

Smitty said:


> Bottom's Up Nate!





Joe4 said:


> Has it really been a year already?  Seems like it just happened a few months ago...
> I picture him up in heaven sharing a beer with Einstein and other great thinkers.
> Cheers!  We sure do miss you around these parts...



Likewise...


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## strive4peace (Dec 4, 2012)

rest in peace, dear friend

thanks for all the code and laughter


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## Jon von der Heyden (Dec 4, 2012)

Nate was an inspiration; and thanks to this board and others I'm sure he continues to inspire others still.

To Nate


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## Greg Truby (Dec 4, 2012)

Thanks, Tom.  I cannot believe it has been an entire year!  Wow.   Indeed, as I read the scores the last two weeks where the Vikings lost back-to-back games to NFC-North rivals, the Packers & the Bears, I have to say that I was imagining Nate shaking his head and muttering "What! Why is He answering the prayers of Packers & Bears fans?  I'm right here now!  He needs to be helping my Vikings!"


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## MARK858 (Dec 7, 2012)

Jon von der Heyden said:


> Nate was an inspiration; and thanks to this board and others I'm sure he continues to inspire others still.
> 
> To Nate



I was a bit late on the board to have any real dealings with Nate but it was only the other day that I was reading a thread where he was gave a different approach in to a problem and was told he was giving more information than necessary for the question. 

As in every other post I have seen by Nate in response he put across his reasons for  making the post calmly, politely and with great consideration for other peoples opinions.

He always struck me as a true gent and yes he does continue to inspire others still (well at least me).

I hope his family do take some comfort from the way myself and others appreciate his many contributions to the board.


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## RunTime91 (Feb 23, 2013)

I know I'm late in arriving to this memorial but I just found out that NateO, a giant among us, had passed away. When it comes to Excel I am a know-nothing nobody; but that, as I came to discover, was precisely the price of admission to be somebody to Nate Oliver.

I have often wondered if the relationships we cultivate here in the cyberworld can actually generate similar senses to those we cultivate in the real-world, by the measure of the sadness I felt upon hearing the news of Nate's passing, I now have my answer.

Thank You Nate - for everything!

RT91


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