I felt only pity for my stalker, admits Oliver
TELEVISION historian Neil Oliver has told how he felt nothing but pity when he came face to face with his stalker.
The Coast presenter was plagued for months by letters and messages sent by Swedish admirer Anna Ohberg, who had become infatuated with him.
The 51-year-old father of three, who lives in Stirling with his wife Trudi, called in police when she turned up at two book signings in Scotland, having flown in from Stockholm.
Ohberg, 55, was ordered out of the country by a court and told not to return or contact the star again.
But Oliver – whose female fans have nicknamed him Dr NO after his initials – insists he never felt threatened. He said: ‘When I saw the woman, I was only sorry for her.
‘She was instantly identifiable as a lonely person who had got a bit carried away with her enthusiasm for being interested in me. She sent me a huge amount of stuff – letters and CDs and DVDs. In her letters, she said she was hearing voices and having dreams that were suggesting we should be together. Nothing threatening, just sad, really.’
He added: ‘I didn’t know who she was. For a long time, it was just stuff coming. I thought, “What if she turned up when I wasn’t at home?”.
‘Then she turned up at a few events where I was publicising a book and tried to give me gifts.
‘She got upset when I didn’t welcome her and sit down with her.
‘I let the police know and they were alarmed on my behalf. She took things too far and both of us stumbled into the legal process.’
Stirling Sheriff Court ordered Ohberg to return to Sweden in 2015 but charges were not pursued.
Archaeologist Oliver has been a well-known face on the BBC for nearly two decades, presenting series including Two Men in a Trench, Vikings and A History of Scotland.
He became the target of online abuse from nationalists and quit social media in 2014 after he claimed the Yes campaign ‘lacks nobility and humanity’. He has since returned to posting his thoughts on Twitter.
But on a tour promoting his latest book, The Story of the British Isles in 100 Places, he told the Sunday Mail: ‘There were unpleasant tweets and certain things were said.
‘Rather than debating, we’re now in a climate where whole points of view are just silenced. I think that’s poisonous.’
‘She took things too far’