Remembering Bob D'Olivo

Archivists can come in many forms. It is with that sentiment that the Petersen Automotive Museum mourns the passing of one of Petersen Publishing’s most prolific photographers and contributors, Bob D’Olivo. Bob passed away last month at the age of 94.

Bob started his career at Petersen Publishing in the 1950s and spent decades as one of their most talented photographers, along with managing the Photographic Department. He also served as the caretaker of Petersen Publishing’s photography legacy in automotive journalism.

In many ways, Bob was a de facto archivist by preserving Petersen Publishing’s photography collection during, and after, his time with the company. The collection he helped build still lives on today at the museum, now cared for by the museum’s archive team. For the past few years, Bob was an advocate for the archival preservation of the photography collection. Bob, more than anyone, understood the historical significance of the collection. Bob may not have had formal archival training or degrees, but his tireless concern for the collection came from the heart of an archivist.

Bob’s presence in the archive is ubiquitous. Not a day goes by in the archive without seeing a photo negative or story envelope with Bob’s name on it. While there is still much work to do with the preservation and sharing of the Petersen Publishing Photography Collection, the Petersen Museum archive team is proud to continue doing it in Bob’s memory.

-Laura Fisher, Archivist at the Petersen Automotive Museum

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The black and white images are some of Bob’s most artistic shots from our archival collection and are courtesy of MotorTrend Group.

The two, color photos are from Bob’s visit to the museum when he met the archive team that was charged with digitizing the Petersen Publishing Photography Collection. In the photo to the right, he is looking at images with our Special Collections Preservationist, Jim Hahn. The photos were taken by his daughter, Dede Mueller.