Steven Oliphant was only at Oglethorpe for a brief period, but he made a huge impact on the basketball program and has carried the values of a Stormy Petrel throughout his life.
Oliphant was a two-year captain and starter for the legendary Coach Jack Berkshire. He was a member of the now famed 1982-83 team and was the 1983 team MVP, NAIA Academic All-American, and NAIA All-District Region 32 honoree.
After graduating Oglethorpe in 1984, Oliphant played at Georgia Tech while finishing his dual degree and earned his master’s in mechanical engineering. Between Tech and Oglethorpe, Oliphant recorded 1,300 career points. (This does not include his points scored during JUCO years at Roane State Community College.) Oliphant also earned an MBA from the University of North Texas in 1988.
In 1983 and 1984 Oliphant served the Georgia Department of Corrections as a summer prison chaplain, leading religious worship and athletic sessions with inmates. His first career move out of school was with the union Camp Corporation; handling customer service, product control, and logistics for the Kraft Paper Mill from 1985 until 1990. Oliphant worked his way up the ladder in the company and their plants, eventually becoming a plant manager, then general manager, then Director of Technology and Product Commercialization in 1998. Oliphant further advanced his career in 2001 when he became Vice-President and a founding member of Exopack, a high-quality packaging company. Today, Oliphant is the Global Director of Supply Chain for Sealed Air Corporation.
In 2001 he co-authored a US patent for “A multiply bag and method of forming the same in which the inner ply of the bag has a longitudinal extending tear strip assembly grippable by the user to facilitate opening of the bag.”
Oliphant is also highly decorated outside of basketball, being a 3x 900 Miler of the Great Smoky Mountains (hiking every trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park). Over the last 50 years he has hiked 15,000 miles in the park. He is a member of the Great Smoky Mountain Association and Friends of the Smokies. Oliphant has owned Ellis Mountain Ranch in Tennessee since 1971 and Grace’s Creek Ranch/ Oliphant Forestry in South Carolina since 2013.
Oliphant was inducted to the Oak Ridge Hall of Fame in 2021. He speaks French thanks to his Scottish ancestors of Clan Oliphant. He and his wife Lisa married in August of 1998. They have three children and two grandchildren. The couple and their dog Bella continue to hike around the country, especially in Appalachia.
