He chose to settle in Masterton as he believes it has potential to be a leader in innovative industry which can boost its farming sector.
"We want to empower people to create," Mr Olliver said.
"Masterton is known for its agriculture but the plan is to create the businesses and the technology to support that.
"I'd love to see people create things like more sophisticated irrigation controls and systems for testing soil minerals, but if Masterton is the place that re-invents the hoverboard, I'll be delighted.
"The plan is to make Masterton 'Makerton'."
Mr Olliver, who grew up in Southwest England, was inspired to create at a young age, watching his inventor stepfather in his workshop and pinching his Meccano construction sets.
"I was a long-haired, geeky hermit," he said.
"I loved playing with those little electronics kits and seeing what I could come up with, although they were quite pathetic back then."
He was a promising athlete in his youth but a rugby injury ended his sporting career, so he began studying computer science at a technical college.
Although his lecturers "didn't appreciate [his] style of computer programming", he landed a job with Amstrad, created by British industry mogul Alan Sugar, impressing bosses with a magnetic computer tape he developed.
"I brought the tape in and they said 'can you start Monday?'"
He worked in IT, creating systems for everything from Locals urged to create
pacemakers to fax machines, until 1994 when he and his Kiwi wife relocated to Auckland.
Once in New Zealand, his career as an inventor literally took off. Experimenting with image generation software, he designed a model lunar plant that was picked by The Artemis Project, a spaceflight venture to establish a permanent base on the Moon, as a backdrop.
Mr Olliver then began designing a life support machine and transport device for astronauts moving between the base and space shuttle, and later worked on thruster systems for a lunar orbiter test satellite used by Nasa.
This caught the attention of UK engineer and mathematician Adrian Bowyer, who teamed up with Mr Olliver to create the RepRap, a 3D printer that can be replicated by printing its own parts.
The printer can also recreate solid objects -- with its first masterpiece being a shot glass.
"Adrian and I celebrated by knocking back some Scottish mouthwash in said shot glass.
"You can print anything: kids' shoes, water filters, artificial blood vessels to be used in surgery. I've heard they're quite popular for printing gothic cutlery, like skull chalices."
Mr Olliver then launched DiamondAge, a company creating the 3D printers, doubling as a Fab Lab, in West Auckland.
He closed the factory last year after a bout of ill health, but plans to continue producing the printers from Masterton -- with help from eager new inventors.
"You can download the instructions online. They're open patent, so people can keep adding to them.
"I'm dead keen on getting people to make them here."
Now having set up in Masterton, Mr Olliver hopes to inspire a new generation of Nasa engineers, starting with running programmes for school children.
He has already run a rocket making workshop for Masterton Intermediate pupils, and plans to run courses for kids on using circuit boards to create their dream project.
"Teachers want kids to learn these skills -- and school budgets are pretty crap.
"But we've got all the gear right here for them.
"We want people to grow up not working jobs, but having their ideas create jobs."
