Portugese international striker Nelson Oliveira joined Norwich from Benfica on 30th August 2016. He signed a four year deal.

Nelson began his youth career at SC Braga but transferred to Benfica at the age of 15. He made his professional debut whilst on loan to Rio Ave in January 2010. He was later loaned to Pacos Ferreira before making his Benfica debut, He went on to play for them in the Champions League, scoring against Zenit St Petersburg in March 2012.

He was loaned to Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna for the 2012/13 and scored 4 goals in 30 appearances. The following season saw him join French side Rennes for a season-long loan. He scored 8 goals in 30 games for Rennes.

On 23rd December 2014, he was loaned to Swansea until the end of the 2014/15 season. He scored once in ten appearances.

He returned to the UK in September 2015 joining Notts Forest on loan. He scored 9 appearances in 28 games.

He has been capped by Portugal at every level from Under-16 and was part of the Portugal squad that competed at Euro 2012. He had 16 full caps at the time of his transfer to Norwich

Nelson made his Norwich debut in the 2-0 win at Everton in the English Football League Cup on 20th September 2016, setting up Steven Naismith for Norwich's first. He scored his first goal for Norwich in the 5-0 win over Barnet on 4th October 2016 in the English Football League Trophy. he scored a total of 8 goals in 32 appearances in his first season at Norwich.

After a clash with new manager Daniel Farke after being benched for the opening game of the 2017/18 season (when Oliveira came off the bench to score the late equaliser at Fulham and wave his shirt in Farke's place), there was speculation that he would be leaving during the Summer 2017 transfer window with Reading and Wolves being linked, and with Swansea supposedly making a £12million bid on transfer deadline day which was rejected by the Canaries (the Swans went on to sign Wilfried Bony as a replacement for Spurs-bound Fernando Llorente).

On 1st January 2018, Nelson was again linked with a move to Wolves with Oliveira’s agent Jorge Mendes a key figure behind the scenes at the Molineux club managed by fellow Portuguese Nuno Espirito Santo. Later that month, he was linked with a switch to Derby. Oliveira made 40 appearances in 2017/18 scoring eight goals.

On 22nd January 2019, Oliveira joined Reading on loan until the end of the season. He had  not played a single first-team match this season. He scored three goals in 10 games including one against Ipswich but he will be remembered by Reading fans for the facial injuries sustained playing against Aston Villa's Tyrone Mings.

Although Oliveira was pictured training with Reading in June 2019, the Berkshire side are under a soft transfer embargo and cannot afford to make the move permanent without selling some players. On 2nd July 2019, it was reported that Nelson was a target for Greek side AEK Athens with their Portuguese coach Miguel Cardoso aware of his compatriot's top-level ability. He completed a free transfer to AEK on 20th July 2019 after being impressed by the 'persistence and desire' of the Greek club in their pursuit of his signature.

On 20th January 2020, Oliveira was linked with a move back to England to join Wolves as back-up for star striker Raul Jimenez as Patrick Cutrone joined Fiorentina on loan earlier this month. Jorge Mendes represents Oliveira and helped Wolves attract 12 players within six weeks during the 2016 summer transfer window, including midfielder Ruben Neves. Nelson is said to have a release clause of €6.5m. Reports in Greece suggest Oliveira would get 10pc of any deal.

Nelson moved to fellow Greek side PAOK on 9th July 2021. He was injured against Bohemian in the Europa Conference League in August 2021 and was absent until April 2023.

On 8th September 2023 he signed for Turkish side Konyaspor on a two year deal. He played 15 games for them without scoring.

He returned to Portugal on 24th January 2024 joining Vitoria de Guimares.