Elmer was born in Bloomfield, Indiana and moved to Washington where his father was a partner in a gristmill. During his junior year (1908) and after he had stared on the Washington High School’s mythical state championship football team and his father’s partner absconded with $62,000.00 the family moved near Linton, Indiana, where Elmer could work part time in the mines to help with the family’s finances. Then in 1909, he starred on the Linton football team that defeated Washington High School for the mythical state championship and captained the track and field team that when on to win the IHSAA State Championships.
His nickname “Catchy” may have come from his baseball experiences as a catcher, outstanding outfielder. It is reported that one time while playing center field on Linton’s baseball team, Oliphant called time-out and hurried to the track where the team was participant in a meet and won the 100-yard dash.
Elmer won the one-mile race at the State meet to help the team win the 1910 IHSAA State Meet, defeating runner-up Kokomo 14.5 to 14.
He attended Purdue University, without a scholarship, again became the star in track and field, football, basketball, and baseball at Purdue University. He worked as a table waiter, carried laundry, stoke furnaces, sold shoes and in the summer returned home to work in the mines. In a game against Wisconsin, he kicked the winning field goal with a broken foot for the 3 -0 win. An excellent student, he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point upon graduating.
While at West Point, he was the first athlete to letter in four sports. He would establish a World Record in the 220-yard low hurdles on grass. Continued his prolific scoring on the football team, recording records that remain today: total of points scored 135 at Purdue and 289 at West Point (total of 424) and forty-three points in a game at Purdue.He has been inducted into many Hall-of-Fames Helms, Purdue Army, Indiana Football, Track and Basketball, and All-American Teams: basketball 1914 and 1915, football 1916 and 1917.
Upon graduation, World War I changed priorities at West Point, and they reverted to pure military instruction. He served in the U.S. Cavalry for a year at Fort Still and in 1919 invented the intramural sports system as we know it today. Elmer was appointed the track instructor at West Point by Douglas MacArthur. He knew many generals and corresponded regularly with Dwight David Eisenhower, who called him by his college nickname “Ollie.”
Oliphant played two years of professional football with the Rochester Jefferson’s in 1920 and the Buffalo All-Americans in 1921. Retiring from athletic participation after the 1921season while leading the league with forty-seven points, 5 field goals, 26 points-after -touchdowns and threw an additional 7 touchdowns He then became athletic director at Union College and in 1924 appointed the AAU coach and helped prepare the 1924 Olympic team.