Harvey Oyer lll

Harvey E. Oyer III is a 5th-generation native Floridian whose family settled in Southeast Florida 150 years ago. His passion for the natural world, and the Florida Everglades, in particular, is rooted in his family history. He is the great-great-grandson of adventurer and explorer Captain Hannibal Dillingham Pierce, who in 1872 became one of the first non-Native American settlers in Southeast Florida, an area with over 7 million residents today. Oyer’s great-grandmother was the first non-Native American child ever born in Southeast Florida. His ancestors lived with the Seminoles and were early explorers of the Florida Everglades.

Oyer is the author of the award-winning, best-selling children’s book series The Adventures of Charlie Pierce, which is required reading in the 4th grade in many Florida school districts. Several of Oyer’s books are set in the Florida Everglades, including The Last Egret, which was named to the Commissioner of Education’s 100 Best Student Reading List in the Nation. Oyer was named Florida’s Distinguished Author in 2013.

Oyer is an experienced explorer himself. He is a member of the Explorers Club and has participated in Explorer’s Club flagged expeditions to the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea and underwater scientific surveying of the Bahamas. In 2018, Oyer cross-country skied to the North Pole.

Oyer holds a Master’s degree in Archaeology from Cambridge University and worked in various parts of the world as an underwater archaeologist.  He also served as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps.