IOC awards the Olympic Order to John Williams

IOC Member Anita L. DeFrantz and James L. Easton, IOC Vice President, presented the Olympic Order to John Williams on 1 May 2003 in Los Angeles, California.

John Williams is one of the most popular and successful composers and conductors of our time. He is well known for his prodigious production of film scores for which he has received 5 Academy Awards. His most recent works include Catch Me If You Can and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

John Williams also has received universal recognition for the music he has composed for the Olympic Games. His composition, "Olympic Fanfare and Theme," was the official theme of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. In 1988, he wrote "Olympic Spirit" for NBC's Olympic coverage. And in 1996, he composed "Summon the Heroes" for the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Last year, on his birthday, during the Opening Ceremony of the XIX Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, he conducted the Utah Symphony Orchestra and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performing his latest Olympic composition, "Call of the Champions."