After studying piano at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, Óliver Díaz was awarded the prestigious Bruno Walter Conducting Scholarship to pursue further studies at the Juilliard School in New York, where he worked with conductors including Otto-Werner Mueller, Charles Dutoit, and Yuri Temirkanov.

Upon returning to Spain, he founded the Gijón City Symphony Orchestra and the Barbieri Symphony Orchestra, serving as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of both ensembles.

With an extensive repertoire spanning from the Baroque to contemporary music, Díaz has conducted many of Spain’s leading orchestras, including the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Orchestra of the Valencian Community, Madrid Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic of Galicia, Euskadiko Orkestra, Oviedo Philharmonic Orchestra, Galicia Symphony Orchestra, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra, Navarra Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Principality of Asturias.

Internationally, he has worked with ensembles including the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta del Teatro de Bellas Artes de México, New Amsterdam Symphony, Cluj-Napoca Philharmonic Orchestra—where he maintains a regular artistic collaboration—and the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.

He has conducted at major Spanish opera houses and venues, including the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, Teatro Campoamor, Teatro de la Zarzuela, Teatro Real in Madrid, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Euskalduna Bilbao as part of the ABAO season, and Teatro de la Maestranza.

His international opera engagements have included Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Roman Theatre of Orange, the Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman, Opéra Nice Côte d’Azur, and the Teatro de Bellas Artes in Mexico. He was also the first Spanish conductor to make his debut in the pit of Moscow’s prestigious Helikon Opera.

Díaz has been invited to conduct at major international festivals, including the Santander International Festival and Les Chorégies d’Orange.

Since 2022, he has served as Artistic Director of the Malta Summer Festival.

From 2015 to 2019, he was Music Director of the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid.

He is also a founding member and Vice-President of the Spanish Association of Orchestra Directors (AESDO).

In recent years, Díaz has developed an additional career as a composer and arranger, creating works and arrangements for productions commissioned by the Teatro de la Zarzuela, the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, and the Compañía Nacional de Danza, with which he has frequently collaborated as Music Director, as well as with the Compañía Nacional de Danza de México.

His discography includes more than a dozen recordings for labels such as Naxos, Warner Music Spain, and the San Francisco Classical Recording Company. His recording Mis amores son las flores, made with soprano Lisette Oropesa and the resident orchestra of the Teatro Real in Madrid, received widespread acclaim from the specialist press.

Most recently, Díaz was appointed Artistic Director of the Plácido Domingo Foundation, where he is responsible for promoting and advancing the international presence of zarzuela. He also continues his work, launched in 2024, as Artistic and Music Director of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Cantabria.