Wing Commander John Oliver "Joe" Archer, CBE was the liaison officer between MI5 and the Royal Air Force.

John Oliver Archer (22 September 1887 – 15 September 1968) was born in Walton-on-the-Naze. In 1916 he married Esther Chilton and they had two children born in 1917 and 1922. Esther died in 1930. Their son, John Chilton Archer, also became a wing commander in the RAF but he was killed in action in 1943.

In the Great War Archer started serving in the ranks of the Seaforth Highlanders with whom he gained the Mons Star. In the Royal Field Artillery he gained his pilot's licence in 1915 and served in the Royal Air Force in South Russia. This continued after the war had ended and in 1919 he was awarded the OBE, followed by the CBE in 1920. Upon taking command in India he was in 1926 promoted to wing commander and he returned to Britain in 1931 to work in the Air Ministry. He retired from military duty in 1935 but continued in a civilian role. In 1940 he was re-commissioned as a group captain to serve throughout the war in the Directorate of Intelligence as liaison officer with MI5.