Oliver Wheeler

Sir Edward Oliver Wheeler MC (April 18, 1890 – March 19, 1962) participated in the first topographical survey of Mount Everest in 1921. As Brigadier in the British Army was appointed Surveyor General of India in 1941. He was knighted for the work he did surveying India. He was an accomplished mountain climber and on the 1921 expedition was one of the team to reach the 7000-metre North Col.

Early life
Oliver Wheeler came from a family of geologists. His father, Arthur Oliver Wheeler was designated a National Historic Person in 1995. His father, a Dominion Land Surveyor, co-founded the Alpine Club of Canada and mapped British Columbia’s Selkirk Mountains and the British Columbia-Alberta border. His mother was Clara (née Macoun), daughter of Canadian botanist John Macoun.

Education
Wheeler attended Trinity College at Port Hope, Ontario. He studied at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario in 1907. He commissioned in the corps of the Royal Engineers.

Career
During the First World War he served with King George's Sappers and Miners in France. Indian Expedition Force, 1915 and with the forces in Mesopotamia campaign 1916-18. He was awarded the Military Cross, a membership in the French Legion of Honour.

In 1919, he was seconded to the Survey of India. During this time he was a member of the 1921 Everest reconnaissance expedition, using photographic surveying techniques. His exploration of the East Rongbuk glacier led him on 3 August 1921 to realise that this provided the key to a viable route to the summit of Everest. He was one of the climbing team to reach the North Col.

He married in 1921 to Dorothea Sophia Danielson. His son John Oliver Wheeler (born 1925) is an award-winning Canadian geologist and an emeritus scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada.

Edward came to Canada on sick leave in 1922 but returned to India in 1923. In 1925 further convalescing in Canada was necessary after another operation in London. He then returned to India. He rose through the positions of Superintendent (1927), Director (1939) and finally to Surveyor-General of India (1941–1947). He was knighted in 1943.

Personal life
Upon his retirement, he returned to Canada with his wife, and lived in Lavington, near Vernon. He was active with the Alpine Club of Canada. From 1950 to 1954, Wheeler served as President of the Alpine Club of Canada. He was a life membership of the Alpine Club (England) and a member of the American Alpine Club.

Brigadier Sir Edward Oliver Wheeler died following a stroke.