Neil Oliver, the popular Scottish historian, archaeologist, broadcaster and writer, joins The Sunday Times Scotland this weekend.

Oliver, widely known as the presenter of the BBC television series Coast and A History of Scotland, starts his new fortnightly column on the eve of Burns night with a look at how Scotland’s best-known poet would have fared on social media.

Oliver, who lives in Stirling with his wife and three children, is the latest signing to boost Scottish commentary in the title, which has recorded a year-on-year sales uplift of 5.5% in the latest ABCs and established a record lead over other titles in the quality market.

It follows the recent signing of the Scottish National Party’s former strategic communications director, Kevin Pringle, who has brought a wealth of experience and insight to the paper after years advising former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond and his successor Nicola Sturgeon.

Jason Allardyce, The Sunday Times Scotland Editor, said:

I’m thrilled to welcome Neil to the team as another powerful Scottish voice. Not only is he one of the country’s best-known sons with a massive following but he writes with great elegance, insight and passion.

Neil Oliver said:

I am delighted and excited to be joining the cast of The Sunday Times. There are so many writers here that I both admire and enjoy, and the chance to be among them has made for a very inspiring start to 2016.

Over the past year The Sunday Times Scotland has also enhanced its Scottish business and sport coverage, helping bolster its position as the biggest-selling and most widely read quality newspaper in Scotland.

This week’s ABCs have underlined its position as the number one quality on a Sunday, with December sales of 44,847 – up 5.5% on last year .

The most recent National Readership Survey showed readership of The Sunday Times in Scotland up 9% year on year, making it the most-read Sunday quality title – reaching 124,000 adults.

(Sources ABC, December 2015/ NRS October 2014- September 2015. Scotland)