The honorary Oscar, or to give it its official title the Academy Honorary Award, was first given that name in 1948 at the 21st Academy Award ceremony. Before that there was a similar category called the Special Award (not to be confused with, though in a way similar to, the Special Achievement Award which dates from 1972).
The idea behind the honorary award and the earlier Special Award was to reward achievements that were not covered by any of the other existing categories at the Academy. This might be because someone (an individual, group or company) had done work that crossed several categories, or because they had done something which, while it might not qualify for a specific prize (eg Best Picture) nevertheless had been exceptionally important or influential, or in some way remarkable. The award is given each year as the Oscars are, but unlike the Oscars the Honorary Award doesn’t have to meet strict criteria regarding date of entry or the date when the achievement or contribution was made.
The prize is usually a gold statuette, the same as the Oscar statuette, though on some occasions a special smaller statuette or individual certificate can be given instead. The first of the historic Special Awards went to Warner Bros in 1928 for The Jazz Singer. This wasn’t a Best Picture, Best Director award or any of the usual categories – it was stated that this early talkie had ‘revolutionised the industry’. There was and is no category for this sort of achievement, but it’s easy to see why it still deserves to be recognised. In the same year Charlie Chaplin won an award for The Circus – again, for the overall contribution the film had made rather than for being the best film. However, for the next two years there were no Special Awards at all, which shows how informal and general the category is compared to the usual Academy Awards.
Sometimes, especially in the past, the reasons given for the awards could seem very different to the reasons that we might give for conferring an award today. In 1946, for instance, the actor Harold Russell received an award for his performance in the war film The Best Years of Our Lives – not specifically for the quality of his performance but because by appearing in the film he helped to raise hope and morale for the wartime audience. In another example, in 1948 one of the first of the newly named Honorary Academy Awards was given to the producer Walter Wanger; but again, this award was not given for the quality of the movie but because it was felt that the production of Joan of Arc had improved the moral stature of the film industry in the world.
There were also awards very similar to what is also called a lifetime achievement award - such as the statuette bestowed on the veteran producer Adolph Zukor in 1948 for services to the industry spanning a period of 40 years.
Moving on to the present day, we find more of an emphasis on the quality of the contribution and less on things like contributions to the public good. For instance, in the last few years Steve Martin has received an honorary Oscar for his ‘excellent achievements’ as a producer, musician and comedian, and James Earl Jones for the excellence and variety of his acting over a period of many years. There are also awards for people considered to have changed the direction of cinema, such as Jean-Luc Godard.
So no, it isn’t easy to get an honorary Oscar! You can learn more about them here.