In 1983 he was awarded the USMC Distinguished Flying Cross and NASA Space Flight Medal. Col. Overmyer was also presented the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School Distinguished Engineers Award.
Born in Lorain, Ohio, but considered Westlake, Ohio, his hometown.
He piloted STS-5, the first fully operational flight of the space shuttle, in November 1982. He commanded STS 51-B, a Spacelab mission, in 1985.
He was interred in Arlington National Cemetery.
He was killed while test-piloting a prototype airplane in Duluth, Minnesota.
Inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame in 1993.