The boss/owner from your previous job won't give you a reference?

I was the office manager for this medium sized company for 3yrs of my life, it was bloody hard yakka. I only found out about a year before I left that the boss had never ever written a reference for anyone,not even for the employees that he still keeps in touch with and regards as friends.
I put in so much effort with that company and that place is where I gained my most valuable knowlege. So what I am saying is that my resume' contains the majority of my experience from this company and I can't even back it up with a reference to say that I did work there and what my title and job description was..