Kyler Oliver

looking to make 2021 his year

By Barbara Pinnella

Through no fault of his own, a lot of bull riding fans might not be familiar with the name Kyler Oliver. That is not because he has not been successful, because he has been. Last year he finished second at the PBR Velocity Tour Finals, which catapulted him into the World Finals, moving up from 62nd place to 37th.

But there is one thing that keeps getting in his way and keeping him from being a bull riding household name – injuries. We will get into that a bit later, after some background on Kyler.

“My uncle Shane was in rodeo; he was a bull rider. But as far as our family name being associated with it, not really,” Kyler laughed. “My family wasn’t really surprised though. I spent a lot of time with my uncle when I was younger, going to rodeos and the like, so they were kind of used to it. “I started on sheep when I was three years old, and I got the bug right then. From there I got on calves, steers, and mini bulls, so it wasn’t too much of a shock to them when I wanted to continue doing this. I’ve always liked the extreme stuff.”

Kyler also rodeoed in school. He rode both in junior high and high school. He did not rodeo his senior year of high school however. He had already turned 18, and decided to start going to PRCA rodeos instead. Shortly into that adventure he injured his shoulder pretty badly, necessitating surgery. But he always knew that bull riding and getting to the PBR was what he wanted to do.

His first injury came way back when he was riding mini bulls. He got stepped on and the shoulder popped out. But he didn’t have too many issues with it until a wreck on a bronc in high school. Then, in a boxing match two nights after that wreck, it popped out again.

“A few poor decisions,” he laughed.

Oliver used to ride both saddle broncs and bulls with champion bronc and bull rider, and one of those great riding Wrights, Stetson, all through high school. He would like to return to that and, like Stetson, qualify and compete in both the NFR and PBR Finals. But currently he hasn’t been on a bronc in more than a year. He will need shoulder surgery – again – before he climbs in that saddle.

“Since I grew up with Stetson, and watching him compete successfully in both saddle bronc and bull riding, it is sort of an inspiration to me. That is something that I feel I can do as well,” Kyler told us.

“I hope I can ride saddle broncs again in the future, once I get my shoulder fixed. I still have a saddle. In fact, it’s (2-time World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider) Cody Wright’s saddle that he won at the World in 2010! It’s sitting there ready to go, I just have to get my body right.”

Oliver rides Chain Smoker for 90.00 points in Round 3 of the 2020 PBR World Finals Arlington.

Photo by Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media

When we later reminded him that he had Cody’s saddle, he laughed and quipped, “I should be able to stay on everything!”

His appearances in the PBR up until last year were spotty; one event or so in 2018 and the same the following year.

“Last year was my first real year going, and that was different because of Covid,” he told us. “It was an extremely odd year. I guess I rode at the right times, and I was able to just make everything line up. And here we are now. It has been my dream to be on the PBR tour, and now I’m here. Now I want to continue the dream to be World Champion.”

One of the best things about being a bull rider is the fact that he is getting to do what he loves for a living. The ability to travel all around our country, and the possibility of seeing other countries through bull riding, while also having the chance to make a living at it is a big positive. But there is something else that comes in a close second.

Oliver takes care of Dirty Sancho for 87.50 points at the 2020 Velocity Tour Finals in Sioux Falls.

Photo by Andre Silva

“I love meeting new people,” Kyler said. “I meet new people everywhere I go, and they always want to talk and find out what it’s like to ride bulls. I love explaining that, because there’s a lot of things people get told that aren’t’ true, or they assume aren’t true. I like to explain to them what we do, and let them know that we have respect for the animal. I am also surprised when I see how many people have never been to even one rodeo.

“I also want them to realize that it’s a family-oriented sport. Most people think of bull riders as just wild, party guys, and yeah you can have that, we like to have fun. But a lot of us are real family guys. Myself, I have a two-year-old daughter, so there are a lot of things about us that I like to share.”

There is one other area that Kyler likes to discuss with the rodeo public, and he often has a hard time with this one. It is when they discuss the price of bucking bulls.

Oliver won his first PBR Velocity Tour victory in Casper, Wyoming in October 2020.

Photo by Andre Silva.

“Oh my gosh, they don’t believe me! A lot of things I tell people I can just tell they don’t believe me. I tell them, ‘I promise you; I’m not kidding. This is real. There is a lot of money in this sport that you wouldn’t realize.’ It’s a lot bigger than most people know.”

Because of the travel schedule, Kyler does not have a lot of time for outside hobbies. He has his daughter every other week, so at those times, she is his main focus. During those other weeks, he likes to build things. Right now, he is building, or should I say revamping, a Chevy van he owns. He has a bed in it, and is working on hooking up the generator for heat and air conditioning.

Once this one is finished, he would like to get newer ones and make them completely self-contained, so competitors can go to rodeos and be comfortable in any kind of weather. They seem to be more convenient than a camper, so that is why his focus is in that direction. He would then look to sell them to rodeo folks, or anyone who wants to go camping.

“People have expressed to me my whole life how important it is to have something to fall back on. I would tell them that I don’t want anything to fall back on, because I want my main focus to be 100% on bull riding.

“Luckily, they forced me to go out and work and earn my own, and I’ve learned a lot of skills along the way. I framed houses with my grandfather when I was amateur rodeoing and couldn’t make a living off rodeo. He was a general contractor. I’m interested in a lot of things. But with that, I’ve still continued to make bull riding my main focus, because I believe that is very important.”

He does not have surgery scheduled, and admitted that he has never really taken time off. He has taken a break when necessary to heal up, but overall, he has just kept hustling. He knew that to get where he wanted to, he had to go all the time and his body had to know what to do. He believes that muscle memory is a big part of the game. But when the time comes, he will also need some work done on both knees, so at that point a layoff will not be an option.

And with regard to muscle memory, Kyler said, “I’ve never been too smart outside of bull riding, so I try to keep my IQ high in that.”

Kyler Oliver’s first appearance in Humps N Horns was in 2017 when he won the Lane Frost Challenge in Vernal, Utah.

Photo by Phillip Kitts / Avid Visual Imagery.

We would beg to differ. This young man is articulate with a great sense of humor, who is also blessed with talent. We look forward to him getting healthy and staying healthy, so we can watch him do what he loves for a long time to come.