Otto died on 9 March 2015; he was to be publicly announced as the winner of the 2015 Pritzker Prize on 23 March but his death meant the committee announced his award on 10 March. Otto himself had been told earlier that he had won the prize by the executive president of the committee, Martha Thorne. He was reported to have said "I’ve never done anything to gain this prize. Prizewinning is not the goal of my life. I try to help poor people, but what shall I say here — I’m very happy".