OLIVA, ALESSANDRO. — Cardinal, born at Sassoferrato in 1407, died in Rome on 20 or 22 August 1463 with a reputation for sanctity. He entered the Order of the Hermits of S. Agostino, among whom he held the principal offices, culminating in that of prior general in 1459. He was an illustrious preacher, peacemaker, and reformer; consequently, Pio II created him cardinal of S. Susanna on 5 March 1460 and granted him the bishopric of Camerino in commendam on 16 November 1461. He left collections of sermons, ascetical treatises, and letters that remained unpublished.
BIRL.: M. Morici, Il card. A. O., predicatore quattrocentista, Firenze 1899; Pastor, II, p. 195 ff.; G. Galletti, L'eloquenza dalle origini al XVI sec., Milano n.d., pp. 288–89 and 617; R. Elia, Una missione pacificatrice del card. A. O. nelle Marche, in Studia picena, 17 (1942), pp. 17–22. Pio Paschini