Oliver Graham-Jones was born in 1919 and lived in Harborne, Birmingham. He was educated at King Edward's Grammar School and read veterinary medicine at the Royal Veterinary College in London.
After qualifying in 1941, he bought his own practice in Camberley, Surrey. Shortly afterwards he volunteered for the Royal Army Veterinary Corps in Italy, looking after the pack mules.
Graham-Jones took up the new post of Veterinary Officer at London Zoo in 1951, and he took a flat between the seal and hippo enclosures. He was the first resident Veterinary Surgeon at ZSL London Zoo in 1951. He set up its first animal surgery, developing the 'flying syringe' for anaesthetising animals without distress. He was responsible for the health of many famous ZSL animals, such as Guy the Gorilla, Churchill's Lion, Rota, and Chi-Chi the Giant Panda.
In 1966 he moved on to become Senior Lecturer at the Royal Veterinary College in London. He was founding President of the British Veterinary Zoological Society and past President of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association.