Ellsberg Whistleblower Award 2026 goes to Andrés Olarte Peña

December 5, 2025

December 4, 2024

Press Release

Ellsberg Whistleblower Award 2026 goes to Andrés Olarte Peña.

An international jury has awarded the EllsbergWhistleblower Award 2026 to Colombian whistleblowerAndrés Olarte Peña.

The whistleblower shared thousands of documentspointing to evidence that Ecopetrol, Colombia’s biggest and majority state–owned company, engaged in:

•Severe environmental pollution, includingcontamination of water and wetlands with toxicsubstances and illegal flaring of methane gas;

•Concealment of incidents and deliberate failure to report violations;

•Targeted surveillance and retaliation against socio-environmental leaders;

•Collaboration with national security forces andconvergence of interests with paramilitary armed groups.

Andrés Olarte worked at Ecopetrol from January 2017 toJanuary 2019, first as an analyst and later as anenvironmental adviser to the Vice President ofSustainability. After blowing the whistle internally andexhausting all possible avenues, with no results, hecontacted the Environmental Investigation Agency(EIA). In March 2025 the EIA published the report CrudeLies along with a database, the Iguana Papers, and theBBC released the documentary Colombia: Petroleum,Pollution and Paramilitaries.

The investigations provide a chilling insight into the practices of a resource company in one of the world’s most dangerous countries for environmentalactivists.

While Colombia is taking steps towards an energytransition, it continues to export large volumesoffossilfuels. Especially in anindustrythatposesa risktoclimate and environment, whistleblowing and investigative journalism areindispensable to ensure compliance with environmentaland human rights standards. This must be recognizedand supported both in Colombia and in importing countries.

In choosing the winner from numerous whistleblowercases that all deserve recognition, the jury –representatives from journalism and whistleblowerorganizations worldwide – emphasized: The case ofAndrés Olarte exemplifies the extraordinary courage of a whistleblower taking immense personal risks to exposewrongdoing of vast scale and impact. For his integrity,Olarte faced severe consequences: intimidation,anonymous death threats, and ultimately exile in Europe.These sacrifices underscore his exceptional commitmentto the public interest.

Andrés Olarte: “My motivation is change. I hope forstructural reforms at Ecopetrol and in Colombia.Whistleblowing and transparency should not be a burden but a positive contribution.”

The 2026 award will be presented at a public eveningevent on 12 March in Berlin at the taz Kantine.

For further information and interview requests please contact :

Thomas Kastning(project manager) +49155 63260388 kastning@ellsberg-award.orgwww.ellsberg–award.org

Photographic material available here

About the Award:

The Ellsberg Whistleblower Award honorswhistleblowers whose efforts have revealed informationthat significantly enhances public or scientific debate,strengthens the public’s right to know, and thus supportsdemocracy. It is named after Daniel Ellsberg, thepreeminent whistleblower of his time, leaking thePentagon Papers in 1971. The award carries a €10,000 prize.