Awards

• German Marketing Award (1982)
• Manager of the Year (1986 & 2001)
• Environmental Manager of the Year (1991)
• International Retailer of the Year 1995 (1995)
• International Corporate Conscience Award for Environmental Initiatives (1996)
• Binding Prize for Nature Conservation and Environmental Protection from the Binding Foundation (1996)
• Alfred Töpfer Medal from the Hamburg Senate (1996)
• German Environmental Prize 1997 from the German Federal Environmental Foundation (1997)
• Honorary Senator of the universities of Hamburg and Greifswald (2000)
• Prize for Business Ethics from the German Network for Business Ethics (2000)
• Inducted into the DMA Hall of Fame, New York (2001)
• Sustainability Leadership Award (2002)
• Prize for Understanding and Tolerance from the Jewish Museum Berlin (2004)
• International B.A.U.M. Special Environmental Prize (2005)
• Vernon A. Walters Award 2005 from Atlantik Brücke Foundation (2005)
• German Founders’ Friz in the Lifetime Work category (2006)
• International Lifetime Award (2006)
• German Grand Merit Cross with Star (2006)
• German Retail Prize in the Lifetime Award category (2007)
• Medal for Outstanding Services to the foundation sector (2008)
• Theodor Heuss Prize (2010)
• UNESCO Children in Need Support Award (2010)
• Walter Scheel Prize (2011)
• Heinz Sielmann Honorary Award (2011)
• International TÜV Rheinland Global Compact Award (2011)
• Honorary doctorate from the HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management (2012)
• Induction in the Manager Magazine Business Hall of Fame (2012)
• Honorary citizen of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (2013)
• Steiger Award for Commitment to the Environment (2013)
• Bavarian Order of Merit (2015)
• Honorary membership of the Patriotic Society of 1765 (2016)
• Nomination as Digitalization Maker as part of the Digital Champions Award from the business magazine Wirtschaftswoche and Deutsche Telekom (2016)
• German CSR Award 2017
• Hans Lenz Medal for Services to Amateur Music Making (2017)
• Honorary Professorship from the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (2018)
• EES Award from the European Economic Senate (2019)
• GEM Award for Thought Leaders in the Field of Branding (2019)
• Hamburg Citizens' Award (2020)
• Global Economy Prize of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (2021)
• Values Medal of the Values Foundation (2021)
• Hamburg Founder Award from the Hamburg Sparkasse bank and the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper in the Lifetime Achievement category (2023)
• Reinhard Mohn Prize “Strengthening Democracy” (2025)
• Induction into Hall of Fame of the Handelsblatt business newspaper (2025)
• Honorary Award of the German Africa Foundation for the Aid by Trade Foundation (2025)

Prof. Dr. Otto is, among other things

• Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Michael Otto Foundation
• Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Michael Otto Foundation for Sustainability
• Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hamburg Training Network Foundation (HANZ)
• Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Michael Otto Foundation for Environmental Protection
• Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Werner Otto Foundation for Medical Research
• Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Aid by Trade Foundation
• Co-founder and honorary council member of the World Future Council, Hamburg
• Co-founder and Honorary Senator of The Deutsche Nationalstiftung, Weimar
• Initiator and President of the “KlimaWirtschaft” Foundation - German Entrepreneurs for Climate Protection, Berlin
• Member of the Board of Trustees of the Helmut and Loki Schmidt Foundation, Hamburg
• Member of the International Club of Rome
• Honorary Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the environmental foundation WWF Germany, Berlin
• Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Society for Politics and Industry (Rissen House)
• Honorary member of the Board of Trustees of the Hamburg Art Collections Foundation 
• Member of the Board of Trustees of the Siegfried Lenz Foundation