The Cashman, Russell Oliver is a true Toronto icon. Growing up in the city, it was almost an everyday occurrence to hear that catchy, trademark commercial jingle playing in the background. Running Oliver Jewellery for over 50 years, Oliver has experienced a “full circle” moment after opening up his latest shop at 88 Yorkville Ave., years after opening one of his first shops just across the street in the ’70s. We spoke with Oliver and his wife Barbara about their whirlwind romance and the secret to their 49-year marriage.
How they met
RO: When Barb moved to Toronto, she went to an employment agency to find a job. And it turns out the employment agency was owned by my sister. Of course, I didn’t need anybody. I was alone in the jewelry business for a couple of years. I did the cleaning. I did the selling. I did everything myself. But I was single, and my sister always wanted to fix me up. I would always be resistant, but she said, “You need help, you need an employee, so I’m going to send you this girl for an interview.” So Barbara came for an interview, and of course, I immediately hired her — mainly because she was so good looking. And so Barbara and I became friends. It was more than an employee-employer relationship. It was a friendship.
The courtship
RO: This was in September, and we obviously worked together every day, and we spent all that time together, but there wasn’t any relationship except that we were friends and she worked for me.
BO: At the time, I was still going out with other people, but somehow, around Christmas time, we fell for each other. And you’re not going to believe this, but we got engaged on New Year’s and then married on Valentine’s Day, six weeks later.
RO: I got her a heart-shaped diamond, for Valentine’s.
The wedding and honeymoon
BO: We got married in Hamilton in the small sanctuary of the Adas Israel Synagogue, and we went to my parents’ house afterward because they lived across the street from the synagogue. It was a very small wedding, just our families, aunts and uncles, first cousins — 50 people altogether. And then we went to St. Lucia and Barbados on our honeymoon.
The kids
BO: We have four sons: Justin, Jordan, Jared and Jonas. It took some time, and now they’re part of the business. We used to just sell, but we went out of that business pre-recession and decided to buy from the public. We started with strictly gold, gemstones, watches like Cartier, but then we started buying silver. It then got extremely busy. People were selling all over the place. So I went out, because I only like the creative part of the business, and Russell was the business part of the business. He got much bigger and eventually my sons got involved.
Balancing career and marriage
BO: We got on so well, and we work together so well, so when we come home, we talk shop a lot. We have a lot in common, and work is so big in our lives because we did business together. But aside from that, we each have our own hobbies. I used to make flower arrangements and outdoor urns for friends and neighbours, and Russell was always such a swimmer.
The secret to success
BO: A good sense of humour. And loyalty.
RO: We don’t take each other too seriously. We laugh and joke all the time. We’re the loyal types, the types that will be married for life. We don’t go to bed angry or fighting with each other. Even if there are problems, we solve them that day. But come by our new location at Yorkville. We work there every day, and we’ll tell you the secret to success.