Vaughan Oliver (12 September 1957 – 29 December 2019) was a British graphic designer based in Epsom, Surrey. Oliver was best known for his work with graphic design studios 23 Envelope and v23. Both studios maintained a close relationship with record label 4AD between 1982 and 1998 and gave distinct visual identities for the 4AD releases by many bands, including Mojave 3, Lush, Cocteau Twins, The Breeders, This Mortal Coil, Pale Saints, Pixies, Modern English, and Throwing Muses. Oliver also designed record sleeves for such artists as David Sylvian, The Golden Palominos, and Bush.

Oliver was born in Sedgefield, County Durham on 12 September 1957. He developed an interest in graphic design through his love of music, in particular the work of Roger Dean. He said in 2014 "There was no real culture, my parents were not really interested in anything unusual – everything I was getting was through record sleeves. It was a democratic way of discovering art." It was not until he studied graphic design at Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic that he took the subject seriously. Through his studies his interests broadened to include inspiration from the work of Salvador Dalí, Surrealism and Pop artists such as Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol.

After graduating in 1979, Oliver went to London hoping to find a job with a large design group. He quickly learned that corporate and commercial design work did not suit him. He subsequently met the owner of the record label 4AD, Ivo Watts Russell. This encounter led to a thirty-year partnership between Oliver and 4AD.

23 Envelope consisted of Oliver (graphic design and typography) and Nigel Grierson (photography). Together, they created the artwork for almost all 4AD releases until 1987. Grierson left 23 Envelope in 1988. At that time, Oliver continued to work for 4AD under the studio name v23 with Chris Bigg, collaborating with Simon Larbalestier, Marc Atkins and others.

Oliver's album art was central to the visual identity of 4AD during the label's prominence in the 1980s and 1990s. From 1982 to 1998, Oliver created album artwork for a number of 4AD bands, including Pixies, Cocteau Twins, The Breeders and This Mortal Coil. Although he worked primarily with 4AD, he occasionally took on non-music clients. His work influenced later designers in music graphics. During the early years of 4AD, Pitchfork credited Oliver with giving the label and its bands, despite their differing genres, an identity through his visual language.

Oliver produced the artwork for the Pixies' entire discography during his lifetime, including the albums Come On Pilgrim (1987), Surfer Rosa (1988), Doolittle (1989), Bossanova (1990), Trompe Le Monde (1991), Indie Cindy (2014), Head Carrier (2016) and Beneath the Eyrie (2019), as well as numerous singles and EPs. In 2009, Oliver designed the Pixies' Minotaur, a 26-pound box set consisting of the band's first five albums, a 96-page fine art book and a 52-page photo book. Oliver stated that, with each Pixies release, he had looked to achieve "a sense of continuity" within the catalog but also employ a "fresh approach", and that his ethos "was always about building individual identities for bands."

In February 1990, Oliver was asked to bring together the work he had done so far for 4AD to be shown for the first time in an art gallery, the Espace Graslin in Nantes, France. The exhibition gathered so much media exposure throughout Europe that it subsequently moved to the Parc de la Villette in Paris. An illustrated catalogue titled Exhibition/Exposition was published to coincide with both Nantes and Paris exhibitions.

In 1994, many of those who had collaborated with Oliver over the previous decade contributed to an illustrated catalogue for the retrospective exhibition of his work held at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, This Rimy River. Recollections of the v23 design experience were provided by individuals such as design writer Rick Poynor, and art critic Ian McKay who frames Oliver's work in a fine art context.