Alan Olson Receives Tall Ships America Lifetime Achievement Award

Call of the Sea founder Alan Olson was awarded Tall Ships America’s Lifetime Achievement Award on February 11 at the 2026 Annual Conference on Sail Training and Tall Ships, held in Chula Vista. The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual who has dedicated their life’s work to getting people to sea under sail and has worked to preserve the traditions and skills of sail training. Alan Olson has done exactly that. The award was presented to Alan by Tall Ships America president Simon Colley.

Alan received the award for “over 70 years of service to creating sail training opportunities for young people, particularly for youth with financial difficulties. Whether in terms of nautical miles traveled or youth served, Olson is among the most prolific sail trainers in American history. Olson’s reputation is built on delivering high-quality learning opportunities through curiosity-driven and evidence-based programs that provide transformative experiences for young people. Through Call of the Sea, he has labored tirelessly to create an equitable, welcoming, and empowering community for many volunteers, staff, and crew that worked for the organization. Olson’s builds and restorations (Stone Witch, Maramel, Matthew Turner among them) have been key vessels in the Pacific sail training fleet,”

“The Tall Ships America Sail Training Awards recognize the achievement and contribution of individuals and programs involved in the work and the community of sail training and tall ships. Each year we recognize strong leadership, extra effort, significant impact, and steadfast commitment to our collective work. Receiving a Tall Ships America Award is a high honor and celebration of the people dedicated to the principle that experience under sail strengthens character through authentic challenge.”

This is Alan’s second Tall Ships America award, the first being the 2018 Leadership Award. We join the sailing community in congratulating Alan on his award and on his lifetime of work in making sailing and tall ships accessible to the wider public.

Tune in to our Good Jibes podcast, Alan Olson on Building Tall Ships.

You can see other Tall Ships America award recipients here.