Nils Oliveto (born on December 8, 1974 in Greenfield Park, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian actor, director and screenwriter.
Nils Oliveto grew up on the South Shore of Montreal. He was actively involved in theatre and improvisation, but his passion was into sports, where he played volleyball and soccer at Royal George High School in Greenfield Park. At 16, he began training seriously as a track and field athlete, and started getting national attention in both the discus and the hammer throw. After graduating from Royal George as the co-president of the Student Council and winning the Athlete of the Year award, he attended Champlain College in St-Lambert under the tutor of former Czechoslovakian weight-lifting Olympic coach Dr. Emil Muller. In 1993, he earned a spot on the Canadian Jr. National Track and Field Team as a hammer thrower. After completing a degree in Pure and Applied Science in 1995 from Champlain College, Oliveto was offered a track scholarship at the University of Oklahoma.
From 1995 to 2000, Oliveto traveled all over North-America, Europe, and Africa, competing in major championships like the Canada Games, the Jeux de la Francophonie, and the Olympic Trials. He graduated with both a Bachelor of Science degree (Health and Sports Science, 1998) and a Master of Science degree (Exercise Physiology and Human Performance, 2000) from OU. He was the University of Oklahoma record holder in the hammer throw, and is still the current all-time powerlifting record holder at Champlain College.
The acting bug hit Oliveto when in he was encouraged by a former Drama/English in high school to pursue acting professionally. While in Oklahoma, he started studying on-camera acting with Darryl Cox (co-star in Arlington Road, starring Jeff Bridges, Tim Robbins, and Joan Cusack). After working on some local TV shows in Oklahoma for PAX TV and America's Most Wanted, Oliveto moved to Los Angeles to jump in the big leagues. Under the guidance of Jon Simmons (former manager of One Tree Hill`s star Chad Michael Murray), he continued studying his craft. He ended up working on major blockbusters like Windtalkers (starring Nicolas Cage), Showtime (starring Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro), and Sorority Boys (starring Harland Williams, Smallville's star Michael Rosenbaum, and 7th Heaven`s Barry Watson). He also appeared on the hit TV show Boston Public, starring Montreal born actress Jessalyn Gilsig.
Through his production company HAMMERMAN FILMS, Nils produced, wrote, directed and starred in "The Cedar's Tears" (2010), a mystery thriller shot in Lebanon, Europe and Canada. The film was screened in North America, Europe, South Africa and Asia, with awards/nominations in Los Angeles, Ireland and Mexico film festivals. Nils completed his second feature in 2011, the pscho-horror film "Maslow's Lab" which he also produced, wrote, and starred. A third film, "Duplicando" is on its way for 2012-2013.