Olds College of Agriculture & Technology is proud to announce Bob and Carollyne Collier as the 2026 Partner of the Year. As the highest honour bestowed by Olds College, this prestigious award celebrates partners who demonstrate exceptional dedication to our vision of advancing agriculture for a better world. The announcement was made last night during Common Ground, Olds College’s first annual event dedicated to defining, leading and investing in agriculture.
Bob and Carollyne Collier have been supporting the College since 2017. After experiencing the campus as part of an Alberta Flying Farmers Association tour, they were inspired by the entrepreneurship demonstrated by Olds College Alumni Alex Villeneuve, and the support he was shown by the College to advance his ideas. The Colliers then partnered with Olds College with a clear mission — to drive student success by rewarding excellence in innovation, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit within the agriculture sector. This led to the creation of the Bob Collier Award.
The Bob Collier Award is open to students campus-wide, regardless of their program of study, and requires applicants to pitch an original idea — or a significant improvement on an existing one — to benefit the Canadian agriculture industry. Each year, the five students with the best idea receive a $6,000 award. In the past ten years, this has resulted in $300,000 being awarded to 50 students.
The award is a significant contribution towards a student's education, and its impact has reached further. Fifty students with varying backgrounds and pursuing an assortment of programming at the College, have pursued innovation, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit within the agriculture sector. The Colliers’ initial mission to drive student success has definitely been achieved through this partnership with Olds College.
Beyond the award, the Colliers chose to expand their initial partnership with another significant contribution. In 2022, they donated $2,000,000 to enhance the learning experience for the students enrolled in the Werklund School of Agriculture Technology. They also donated an additional $100,000 over the past 10 years. These contributions allowed the improvement of academic programming and amplified student engagement through an increase in applied research and the development of the Olds College Smart Farm.
“Bob and Carollyne Collier have been tremendous partners,” said Dr. Debbie Thompson, President and CEO of Olds College. “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. We are proud to work with Bob and Carollyne and look forward to further collaboration that advances agriculture for a better world.”
“We never went into a partnership with Olds College dreaming of receiving recognition like this. That’s not why we pursued this.” says Carollyne Collier, Olds College 2026 Partner of the Year. “We want to give a huge thank you to everyone at the College who had anything to do with us receiving this award. It was such an unexpected joy.”
“The students feel like family to us. We know they put so much effort into applying for this award. We would like the students to know they are so incredibly special in our lives.”
Common Ground is a premier event that brings together producers, industry partners, elected officials and community leaders to celebrate the collective progress made in agriculture and a look at the innovation that will carry it forward. It provides the ideal platform to celebrate the Colliers, as significant partners whose dedication is invaluable to preparing and empowering students as future leaders who will drive our industry forward.
