Jan Olszewski, a Polish anti-communist dissident and former prime minister, has died. He was 88.

The news agency PAP reported Friday that Olszewski died in a Warsaw hospital late Thursday, citing former Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz.

Deputy Prime Minister Beata Szydlo recalled him as a "great man" who "faithfully served Poland and Poles."

Olszewski, a Warsaw native, was still a teenager when he participated in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi German occupiers of the country during World War II.

In the 1980s he was a leading figure in the anti-communist Solidarity movement, helping to draft its founding charter. He also took part in the Round Table Talks in 1989 that paved the way for communism's collapse.

Olszewski served as prime minster for six months from 1991-1992.