Oliver Tanner

Oliver (Ollie to his friends) is a Buddhist scholar and long-term practitioner whose work integrates textual study with lived meditative experience. Originally from the United Kingdom, he now lives in Sri Lanka with his wife and son.

Oliver first came into contact with the Dhamma in 2003. Over the following fourteen years, he undertook sustained vipassanā meditation practice, attending many residential retreats primarily within the tradition of S. N. Goenka. This period involved intensive, technique-focused practice, including extended retreats and years of service at meditation centres in the United Kingdom. These formative years established a strong experiential grounding for which he remains deeply grateful. Over time, however, he recognised the limitations of practice when it is not grounded in a direct understanding of the Buddha’s teachings, prompting him to turn more fully towards the Pāli texts.

He moved to Myanmar to undertake formal academic training and completed a three-year Bachelor’s degree in Buddhist Studies at the International Theravāda Buddhist University in Yangon in 2017, focusing on Abhidhamma, the Pāli language, and the Visuddhimagga. He then moved to Sri Lanka to continue his in-depth study of the Buddha’s teaching, with particular emphasis on the Early Buddhist texts. Oliver completed his Master’s degree in 2019 and his PhD in Buddhist Philosophy in 2024 at the Postgraduate Institute of Pāli and Buddhist Studies, University of Kelaniya, Colombo. His doctoral research focused on the canonical Abhidhamma, especially the Paṭṭhāna, its philosophical structure, and its relationship to early Buddhist thought.

Oliver currently lectures at the Postgraduate Institute of Pāli and Buddhist Studies and other universities in Sri Lanka, teaching at BA, MA, and PhD levels. Alongside his university teaching, he teaches Early Buddhist teachings, practical Abhidhamma, and Pāli language online to international students. He is also an independent meditator, integrating theory and practice in daily life and through self-retreats, and he teaches meditation in Sri Lanka.

Across study, teaching, and practice, Oliver is guided by a single aim: to present the Buddha’s teaching with accuracy, clarity, and relevance, with particular attention to the nature of dukkha, its arising, its cessation, and the path leading to its ending—so that textual understanding and lived experience support and clarify one another.