This is just about 100% right, but just to say two things:

Even with a colorless oil, or the right color (you could take colorless oil and use tints if you had to, to get it the right color) the sheen will likely be wrong, and you will still notice because it will still catch your eye.

It is basically impossible to permanently change the sheen of a non-film forming finish, because the sheen change is done with flatteners (usually silica dust or something) that sit on top of the cured finish[1], and in a non-film forming finish, it will just wipe away ;)

Also

The film finishes still wet (they have to), just not as deep. This is why some of them are not great at bonding, like epoxies - they have trouble wetting the surface, and thus, you only get a mechanical bond instead of a chemical one.

How much they wet can still be noticeable on thinner veneers, depending on the finish/backing.

Normally i'd say 1/8th veneer like this is would be fine, but red oak is very porous, and so it's harder to say.

[1] The final sheen is always determined by what is on top