Oxygen is a key chemical element and solid state NMR can provide unique insight into the its local environment. In the last decade there have been significant advances (sensitivity, resolution) in the NMR methodology for non-integer spin quadrupole nuclei such as oxygen and the background to these techniques is presented in this tutorial review. The information that the NMR parameters can provide about the local environment is explained through a series of illustrations from different areas of solid state chemistry and structural science of inorganic materials.