The 2024 season is the sixth for Zachary Oliver has an assistant coach for the Chaminade University men's and women's cross country teams.

In 2024, both men's and women's squads enjoyed successful seasons. The women won the Hawai'i Hilo Invitational on Oct. 5 while individual successes went to Maria Steinke and Nikiji Dayse both earning two medalist honors during the season. Their successes would help the Silverswords advance to the NCAA West Regional for the second straight season. On the men's side, Peter Ramos wrapped up his final year by finishing as the team's top finisher in all five races including a top podium finish in the UH Hilo Invitational. Ramos and fellow senior Conor McMahon both participated in the NCAA Regional with Ramos earning Chaminade Athletic's Male Athlete of the Year, becoming the first cross country runner to earn the distinction in 11 years.

The 2022 season was a highlight year for the women's squad, with sophomore Zoe McDonough becoming the first Silversword to capture medalist honors in a race since 2012 and the first to win a 5-kilometer event since 1992. At the Pacific West Conference Championships in San Leandro, California, the team finished eighth of 11 squads, their highest finish since 2011.

In his first competition as assistant during the 2019 season at the UH Big Wave Invitational, Oliver helped the women's team finish ahead of Hawai'i Hilo for the first time in nearly three years. He was also a factor in helping freshmen Peyton Oshiro of the men's team and Alena Albertson of the women's team to be the teams' top runners each week. Albertson posted spectacular times including a second-place finish among Division II runners in the Big Wave Invitational which garnered her PacWest Freshman of the Week honors, a first for the women's program, and later in the year becoming the first 'Sword women's runner to earn a spot in the NCAA West Regional since 2012.

Oliver has an extensive background in water sports particularly in surfing. For the past 20 years, he has been a professor and academic administrator, helping and mentoring graduate students working through their doctoral dissertations. He's also worked as a senior advisor to several small businesses and non-profit organizations to help establish culture, ethics and performances through the importance of coaching.

In the athletic field, Oliver has mentored younger surfers to balance their joy of the sport while helping them to maintain focus for performances in competition.

In all of his roles, Oliver has helped to instill a "champion's mindset" to help talented individuals he works with to keep their minds focused on the internal challenges of competition. He also believes that champions do not compete against one another; rather, compete with only their own last and best performance.

A former competitive amateur surfer, Oliver received his B.A. in English from the University of California-Berkeley in 1996. He also has three graduate degrees: an MBA, Master's of Education and a Doctorate of Education in Organizational Leadership.