IAN Kiernan AO, the round the world sailor who founded the Clean Up Australia organisation, has died, aged 78.

Kiernan was diagnosed with cancer in July and Clean Up Australia announced his death in a statement on Wednesday.

Mr Kiernan, a builder who specialised in historic restorations, came up with the idea for Clean Up Australia Day after sailing solo around the world in 1987 and being shocked and disgusted by the pollution and rubbish that he found in areas such as the Sargasso Sea in the Caribbean.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison gave a heartfelt tribute to Mr Kiernan this morning at a press conference in Canberra.

“His passion for our oceans, which started all of this for him, and Australia’s coastal lifestyle in particular is something that I think struck a real chord with all Australians,” Mr Morrison said.

“The thing I think Ian did more than anything else was just tap us all on the shoulder and say ‘hey, we’ve got to take care of this — this is our responsibility, it’s not government’s, it’s ours as Australians. It’s our beautiful Australia and it’s our job to keep it that way’.

“And for that, Ian, I want to say thank you for what you’ve done for our country.

“To his friends and his family, we express our deepest sympathies and our condolences.”

Mr Kiernan took his event worldwide in 1993 when Clean Up the World was launched with the support of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In its inaugural year, it involved about 30 million people in 80 countries.

He was awarded the prestigious Sasakawa Environment prize by the UNEP in 1998.

Nicknamed “the greatest garbo since Greta” by ABC broadcaster Phillip Adams, a statement released by Clean Up organisation said Mr Kiernan’s great legacy was the created of an “informed, concerned, committed and involved community — sharing his passion for the safeguarding of our most precious asset, our environment”.

Clean Up Australia Day began when Mr Kiernan decided to organise a clean up day with the support of a committee of friends, including co-founder Kim McKay AO called Clean Up Sydney Harbour. It was so popular that they decided to start Clean Up Australia Day the next year, in 1990.

The event has grown from about 300,000 volunteers in the first year to include 587,962 volunteers in 2018 across more than 7000 locations in Australia.

In the past 28 years Australians have donated more than 33 million volunteer hours, removing the equivalent of 350 thousand ute loads of rubbish from over 178 thousand sites across the country.

Mr Kiernan was named 1994 Australian of the Year for his efforts and he described the award as an “incredible honour” and an opportunity “to spread the message of care for the environment to all levels of the Australian and global community”.

He was recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1991 and appointed an Officer of the order of Australia (OA) in 1994.

Mr Kiernan never lost his enthusiasm for the environment and the Clean Up organisation grew to embrace many other initiatives to keep rubbish from entering the environment in the first place.

“It’s really great to see so many people passionate about removing rubbish from the places that are important to them,” Mr Kiernan said in a statement about this year’s Clean Up results in Australia.

But he emphasised the need to do more than just pick up rubbish on one day a year.

Over the years Clean Up Australia evolved into an organisation that works with the community, government and business to provide practical solutions on living more sustainably every day of the year.

Ian Kiernan was a world leading environmentalist. He made us realise the connections between local pollution and the health of our oceans and marine life. He was strong, principled and on the right side of history. I’ll miss his leadership, strength and good humour.

RIP — Tony Burke (@Tony_Burke) October 16, 2018

Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP today has paid tribute to Clean Up Australia founder Ian Kiernan who died overnight aged 78. "I want to say 'thank you' for what you have done for our country....we express our deepest sympathies and our condolences." #IanKiernan #7News pic.twitter.com/2v1OOLSavn — 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) October 16, 2018

Vale Ian Kiernan Australian of the year 1994. With Harry here we should recall how he once jumped on a man attacking his father. Great man — Barrie Cassidy (@barriecassidy) October 16, 2018

“Making a real difference starts with looking more closely at our personal purchasing behaviour, becoming conscious of the single use products, packaging and plastics that we buy and then discard,” Mr Kiernan said.

“We need to continue to challenge our governments to implement effective waste management and recycling programs to reduce the amount of wasted resource that ends up in our precious environment. Our Clean Up activities provide vital community led data and feedback that influences decision makers.”

Mr Kiernan’s legacy will be continued by his daughter Philippa (Pip), who has been appointed to the Clean Up board.

“As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Ian’s vision we ask communities to band together to celebrate in his honour, proud of what he has achieved, determined to continue his work,” a statement said.

— Additional reporting by Claire Bickers