Absolute cross sections for double and triple photodetachment of O− ions have been measured at photon energies around the threshold for K-shell ionization using the photon-ion merged-beams technique at a synchrotron light-source. In addition, corresponding large-scale ab-initio calculations were carried out at a level of complexity that has never been invoked before. From the comparison between experiment and theory it becomes apparent that the inclusion of multi-electron processes such as double shake-up in the theoretical calculations is crucial for the explanation of the experimental findings.