Starts hard when cold; fine when has run recently

[elipse575]

I have a 1999 Chevy Malibu LS, 3.1L.
180,000 or so miles on the car; 40,000 on the engine.

The car is starting hard when it hasn't run for a few hours. It cranks for a bit then starts. Sometimes it might surge the RPMs a bit and come back to normal. If I go somewhere and restart the car after 15-30 min or so it starts right back up like new. I'm not sure where to begin with this problem.
Last week when it was really cold, when I started the car the 'Check Oil' light popped on. If I turn off the car and restart it, the light stays off. The oil level is fine, but now it pops the light most of the time when I start the car. I don't know if the two issues are related or not. I was hoping for a bit of advice!