Meet the Olvers: Canoeing is Their Love Language
Words by Wildly
Canoeing is a lot like marriage. It requires constant teamwork, clear communication, patience, and a shared vision for where you want to dock. And when life capsizes, it’s important to know how to right the boat and keep moving forward together.
Chip and Jim Olver (middle with golden retriever) day hiking with friends
Chip and Jim Olver have been navigating life’s waters for more than three and a half decades. Through smooth lakes and turbulent rapids, they've shared a journey, which today includes three children, three grandchildren, and two puggles. But it all began when they first met in a supervisory training workshop at the Banff Centre in the mid-1980s.
Jim was a geologist-turned-arts program manager and Chip was a computer programmer analyst-turned-campus life facilitator. At the time, Jim was married, so there was no immediate spark between them. However, a friendship slowly began to bloom. After Jim’s first marriage came to an end, he and Chip spent more time together alongside their mutual friends. They socialized, played cards, hiked, camped, danced, and sang their hearts out in the woods. (Ah, the ‘80s.)
“People would ask me, ‘Are you dating Jim?’ And I’d say, ‘Oh no, we’re just hanging out,’” Chip recalls with a laugh. “But after a few months, I realized we actually were dating. Jim was just my friend, and it was really nice to fall in love with your friend.”
She reflects on how, when dating someone, it's easy to try to act or speak in a way to make them like you. But because they had already been friends, Chip was always her true self. Nothing needed to be pretended.
Their first exchange of “I love you” came during a camping trip with friends. Chip had made herself a Triscuit cracker topped with cheese and spicy mustard. As she danced to the music, she tossed it into her mouth and instantly felt the heat of the mustard. She soon realized the heat wasn’t just from the mustard—the cracker had a bee on it, and the bee had stung her tongue. Her tongue began swelling, but being the mountain woman she was, Chip pulled out her Swiss Army knife to scrape off the stinger and popped an ice cube in her mouth.
Her breathing began to feel restricted, so she had to swallow her embarrassment to admit what had happened and ask Jim to drive her to a nearby hospital. On the way, she reflected on if she had any regrets in life.
“I thought, ‘Yes, I regret that I haven’t told Jim that I love him,’” Chip recalls. “Meanwhile, Jim was thinking I was struggling to breathe, and wondering what he could use in the car to create an airway.”
Though they were both having very different thoughts, neither mentioned them at the time. After Chip received an epinephrine shot and her tongue returned to normal, the two sat outside the medical centre, leaning against a tree.
“I love you,” Chip said. Jim smiled and replied, “I love you too.”
Looking back on this special moment, she says: “I’m not sure many people exchange those words under those circumstances, but we did.”
The couple married on December 23, 1988, and their adventures continued, starting with their honeymoon. They telemark skied out of the Monashee Chalet for one week, alongside 18 other people. (The guides later joked they’d never hosted a couple honeymooning before!) Together, they backcountry skied and curled in the winter, and camped and hiked in the summer and fall. Jim also coached the Banff Centre women’s softball team, and Chip would hitch a ride from the games on Jim’s bike, using her baseball glove as a makeshift saddle. Winter weekends were spent at the local ski hill, where their children learned to ski starting at ages as young as two.
But above all, “Jim and I have always canoed.”
Jim and Chip paddling with their puggle, Lacy.
From Southern Alberta to Northern Manitoba, canoeing has been their favourite shared activity. They learned whitewater canoeing from Banff legends Jim Buckingham, Doug McKown, and Donna McKown. Jim went on to become a rescue boat and river canoe instructor. Each year, the Olvers took canoe trips, including the 3 Rivers Rendezvous festival, the Paull River in Saskatchewan, and the Berens River in Manitoba.
The years spent looking out for one another on the water made it second nature for them to take care of each other off the water too. In 2023, Jim suffered a serious stroke that left him with limited mobility, unable to carry gear or take the stern position in the canoe. But with the help of friends and paid helpers, they were able to take a major canoe trip in summer 2024. Over the course of the trip, Jim grew stronger and even paddled on both sides.
After the stroke, Jim retired from his 40-year career at the Banff Centre, where he was well known as the face of customer service. Chip recently celebrated 30 years as a councillor on Banff Town Council, and continues her work to build a strong community. Together, they’ve made a home in Banff, raised a family, and most importantly, stayed friends.
When asked for the greatest piece of advice they have for couples, their answer is simple: “It’s nice to be friends first. Be kind to each other.”
