Which honour was J.K. Rowling awarded in the United Kingdom in 2001?
Answer
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
J.K. Rowling was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2001. The honour is commonly abbreviated OBE.
The appointment recognized her services to children’s literature. Rowling received the honour after the first four Harry Potter novels had become an international publishing success, but before the final three books were released.
An OBE is one grade within the United Kingdom’s honours system. It is different from an MBE, which is a lower grade, and from a CBE, which is a higher grade. Rowling later received other distinctions, including the Hans Christian Andersen Literature Award in 2010 and appointment to the Order of the Companions of Honour in 2017.