Nardwuar Honored With One of Canada’s Highest Accolades: ‘I Am in Awe!’

Nardwuar the Human Serviette Bestowed With the Order of Canada

Vancouver’s most recognizable plaid-clad icon, Nardwuar the Human Serviette, has been granted one of the nation’s most prestigious civilian accolades. On December 31, the legendary interviewer was officially named as one of the 80 newest appointees to the Order of Canada.

The 57-year-old John Ruskin—better known by his eccentric public persona—expressed his profound disbelief and gratitude in a recent social media update. “I am incredibly humbled that people deemed me worthy of such a distinction and took the time to nominate me,” he shared via Instagram. “I’m in total awe! I can’t even begin to explain myself, so I can only imagine how difficult it was for the committee to categorize what I do!”

In a touching tribute, Nardwuar dedicated the milestone to his late mother, Olga Ruskin. He credited her with fostering his deep appreciation for local history, independent media, and the meticulous research that has become his professional trademark. “I know she would be just as overwhelmed with joy as I am,” he noted, before concluding with his iconic sign-off: “Doot doola doot doo…”

Olga Ruskin was a trailblazer in her own right, serving as a court reporter for the Toronto Star in the 1950s before creating the Vancouver-based program Our Pioneers and Neighbours during the 1970s.

While globally recognized for his disarming and deeply researched interviews, Nardwuar is also the frontman and keyboardist for the punk rock outfit The Evaporators, which he founded in 1986. Over the decades, his unique approach—often involving the presentation of rare, deeply personal gifts to his subjects—has earned him high praise from hip-hop heavyweights like Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams.

His sprawling career began in the world of campus radio before he transitioned to MuchMusic in the late 1990s. There, he conducted career-defining interviews with the likes of Nirvana and Blur. More recently, he has continued to bridge generational gaps by interviewing contemporary stars such as Sabrina Carpenter, Jack Antonoff, Ice Spice, and Timothée Chalamet.

This year’s prestigious list of Order of Canada inductees also features children’s entertainer Raffi and country music star Terri Clark, alongside an esteemed group of scientists, authors, and Supreme Court justices.

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