Handyman Connection is in Oliver, BC

Handyman Connection is in Oliver, BC, serving surrounding areas Call 1-800-88-HANDY

Handyman Connection is in Oliver, BC and surrounding areas. We can help you to do all your fix-ups and renos. This includes kitchen and bathroom, fences and decks, drywall and painting, plumbing and electrical, flooring including wood, laminate and tile, fine carpentry and just about everything else. One number works all over the Okanagan. Call 1-800-88 HANDY (1-800-884-2639) 

Aboriginal peoples occupied the territory in which Oliver lies when settlement by Europeans began in the 19th century. Osoyoos Indian Reserve No. 1 stretches from Gallagher Lake area to Osoyoos and adjoins the Town's eastern boundary.

The Inkameep Indians, sometimes called the Osoyoos Band, migrated here and settled on the east side of Osoyoos Lake. The tribe's name comes from a phrase which means "the base of bottom" - attesting to their residence on low lands and plateaus.

The first European activity in the area was gold mining, with the staking of the first claim in 1887, and the establishment of the Town of Fairview in 1890 on the benches above Oliver to the west. Folklore has it that a one armed gold prospector named Reid discovered gold in this area, and the Town of Fairview (located just outside what is now known as Oliver) became home to gold miners, ranchers and businessmen. Fairview was one of B.C.’s largest towns at the turn of the century. The gold rush died and sadly, so did Fairview, with Oliver springing up in its wake.

Fairview's life was short; the post office was closed in 1926. One of the few remaining buildings from the town, the Fairview Jail, has been moved to the Oliver museum site.

Following the First World War, BC’s premier, known as "Honest" John Oliver, envisioned an irrigation canal, which would bring this dry Sonora Desert region to life. The South Okanagan Lands Project was born, creating jobs and long term opportunities for veterans returning from World War I. The original townsite of Oliver was surveyed in 1921. Completed in 1923, the concrete irrigation canal (locally known as "the ditch") soon transformed this desert region into lush orchards and farms.

The airport, built just prior to the Second World War, initially served the entire region south of Penticton.

Oliver, along with Osoyoos to the south, experienced rapid growth after the Second World War, with an influx of agricultural settlers, including many of Portuguese and German origin.

Home to 11 local wineries and many vineyards, Oliver now calls itself "The Capital of Wine Country". The Festival of the Grape is fast becoming a ‘must attend’ during the Okanagan’s Fall Wine Festival.