Who Is Oliver Patrick Short? All About Martin Short’s Son

Oliver Patrick Short is the middle child of comedian and actor Martin Short and his late wife, actress Nancy Dolman. His father is one of the most loved comedy stars of the last fifty years, known for SCTV, Saturday Night Live, and Only Murders in the Building.

Oliver, though, did not follow his father onto the stage. He built a career behind the scenes in sports and entertainment production, and he has lived a mostly private life. Here is what the public record says about him.

Quick Facts

A Comedy Family

Martin Short was born in Canada and became a star through sketch comedy. He worked on SCTV, joined Saturday Night Live, and acted in films such as Three Amigos and Father of the Bride. In recent years, a new generation has found him through Only Murders in the Building, the hit series he stars in with Steve Martin and Selena Gomez.

Oliver’s mother was Nancy Dolman, a Canadian actress and singer. She had a recurring role on the TV series Soap and also worked on stage. Martin and Nancy met in 1972 during a Toronto production of the musical Godspell, where Nancy was an understudy. Martin has said it was love at first sight. They married in 1980.

Nancy later stepped back from acting, around 1985, to focus on raising the family. That choice shaped the home Oliver grew up in: a famous father, but a mother whose full attention was on the children and the house.

Adoption and Childhood

Martin Short and Nancy Dolman adopted all three of their children. Their daughter, Katherine Elizabeth, was born in 1983. Oliver Patrick was born on April 29, 1986. Their youngest son, Henry Hayter, was born on August 4, 1989.

Growing up, the three children were kept largely out of the spotlight. They were not child actors, and they did not do the talk show circuit. Still, they were seen at some family events over the years. In 2006, Oliver posed with his family at the afterparty for Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. The same year, he and Katherine joined their father on the red carpet for the Night Of Too Many Stars benefit in New York City.

Those rare appearances give a picture of a close family that showed up for big moments, but lived normal days away from cameras. Martin has often joked that none of his children wanted to go into show business, even though, in his words, he pushed them. The joke lands because it is close to the truth: all three chose their own paths.

College Years at Notre Dame

Oliver attended the University of Notre Dame, one of the best known universities in the United States. People magazine reports that he graduated in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in film and television production. That subject is a clear link to his father’s world, but from the other side of the camera: making shows and broadcasts, not performing in them.

His college life was not only about classes. Reports based on his LinkedIn profile say he was captain of the men’s snowboard team and coached the women’s ice hockey team at Notre Dame. Sport clearly mattered to him, and that interest later matched his work in sports broadcasting.

His younger brother Henry also went to Notre Dame, graduating in 2012 with a degree in finance. The brothers shared the same campus a few years apart, while their sister Katherine studied at New York University and became a social worker.

Career Behind the Scenes

After college, Oliver went into production work. The public updates on his career mostly come from his father’s interviews, because Oliver himself does not do press.

In a 2012 interview with The Guardian, Martin Short gave a simple update on his children. He said his son Oliver works at Warner Brothers. Warner Bros. is one of the biggest film and TV studios in the world, so even that short line shows Oliver had a real place inside the industry, just not in front of an audience.

By 2019, his path had moved more clearly into sports. On the Conan talk show that year, Martin told host Conan O’Brien, “My son Oliver is a senior associate producer at NBC Sports.” A senior associate producer is a hands-on production role on broadcasts, helping shape shows and coverage behind the scenes.

Other reports over the years have linked Oliver’s name to roles at companies such as William Morris Endeavor, FOX Sports, and to work as a contestant producer on the game show Generation Gap in 2022. These later details come from profile pages and his work history as reported online, rather than from his own interviews, so they are best read as reported roles, not as a full confirmed list.

What is clear is the shape of the career. Oliver used a film and TV degree, a love of sport, and quiet steady work to build a life in production. It is the family business, in a way, but done his own way: no stage, no characters, no fame.

Family Loss and Private Life

The Short family faced a heavy loss in August 2010, when Nancy Dolman died at age 58 after a battle with ovarian cancer. Oliver was 24 at the time. Martin has spoken about those years with honesty. In 2012, he said it had been a tough two years for his children, and that loss teaches you that hard things do happen to the people you love.

Martin has also said he still feels close to Nancy’s memory and thinks of her when he makes family decisions. That bond seems to have held the family together. Oliver and his siblings have appeared with their father at select events over the years, including festival and award settings, always briefly and always as a family.

In February 2026, the family confirmed the death of Katherine Short at age 42. The family asked for privacy at that time, and Oliver, true to his lifelong pattern, made no public statements of his own. Out of respect, this article does not add detail beyond that confirmed family news.

Oliver keeps no public profile of the kind many celebrity children build. There are no public interviews where he discusses his father, no reality shows, and no social media persona to follow. His appearances are limited to family photos at events, and his career news comes in short lines from his father’s interviews.

FAQs

When was Oliver Patrick Short born?

He was born on April 29, 1986. He is the middle child of Martin Short and Nancy Dolman.

Did Oliver Patrick Short become an actor like his father?

No. He studied film and television production and works behind the scenes. His father said in 2019 that Oliver was a senior associate producer at NBC Sports.

Where did Oliver Patrick Short go to college?

He attended the University of Notre Dame and graduated in 2008 with a degree in film and television production. Reports say he was also captain of the men’s snowboard team there.

Who are Oliver Patrick Short’s siblings?

His older sister was Katherine Elizabeth Short, a social worker who died in 2026 at age 42. His younger brother is Henry Hayter Short, born in 1989.

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Final Thoughts

Oliver Patrick Short grew up in one of comedy’s most famous families, but he picked a quiet worker’s path inside the same wider industry. A Notre Dame degree in film and TV production led him to studio work at Warner Bros. and later to a senior production role at NBC Sports, as his father proudly shared.

He has dealt with real family loss, first his mother in 2010 and then his sister in 2026, while keeping his own life out of public view. That mix of steady work and strong privacy is the true picture of Martin Short’s middle child: close to his family, good at his craft, and happy to let his father take the applause.

Featured photo: Martin Short – photo by Louise Palanker, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons