A special event held on Thursday, June 18th at the Olds College Alumni Centre included the annual presentation of the highest honour bestowed by the local post-secondary institution.
The 2026 Partner of the Year award belongs to Bob and Carollyne Collier. It celebrates those who demonstrate exceptional dedication to our vision of advancing agriculture for a better world. The Colliers donated $2 million in 2022 to enhance the learning experience for students in the Werklund School of Agriculture Technology. They added $100,000 more in donations during the past decade which among other things has aided an increase in applied research and development of the Olds College Smart Farm. Olds College and the Colliers have also collaborated to create the Bob Collier Award. 50 students have been awarded a total of $300,000 over a 10 year period thanks to the award. It is open to any student on campus and they must pitch an original idea or offer a significant improvement to an existing one that benefits the Canadian agriculture industry.
In a media release, Dr. Debbie Thompson – President and CEO of Olds College – noted that the Colliers have been tremendous partners. She says “this recognition is a culmination of ten years of support. We are grateful to the Colliers for choosing Olds College to pursue their mission and are thankful for the impact it has had on our students.”
Carollyne Collier called it an unexpected joy to receive the award. Also in the media release, she says “we never went into a partnership with Olds College dreaming of receiving recognition like this. That’s not why we pursued this. We want to give a huge thank you to everyone at the College who had anything to do with us receiving this award.”
June 18th marked the first annual Common Ground event for Olds College. It is dedicated to defining, leading and investing in agriculture. Olds College posted a video of the 2026 Partner of the Year award on YouTube. See it here.
