Three-time Olympian Julian "Rolls Royce" Pearce has been elevated to Legend status within Hockey Australia, while Jamie Dwyer is among eight inductees into the Hall of Fame.

The HA board has ratified Pearce's inclusion as a Legend to an exclusive group that features Ric Charlesworth, Rechelle Hawkes and Alyson Annan.

Legend is the highest honour bestowed on an individual by HA, with the person's character, sportsmanship and world-wide reputation also taken into consideration along with performance.

Born in India in 1937, Julian is the youngest of five Pearce brothers who all played hockey for Australia.

Often referred to as the 'Rolls Royce' of this famous hockey family, Pearce was an exceptional talent and competed for Australia at three Olympics (1960, 1964 and 1968).

He is regarded by many hockey players and coaches as one of the greats of Australian hockey.

"Julian's story and that of the Pearce family is a remarkable one and this accolade adds another chapter to it," HA president Ross Sudano said.

"Julian played in a period when international teams were lucky to participate in a handful of games per year, so for him to dominate and perform as well as he did across three Olympics highlights what an exceptional talent he was.

"He became revered around the hockey world, not only for his tremendous ability with a hockey stick in his hand but through his team-first ethos and the way he played the game and conducted himself."

Widely acclaimed for his silky skills, Pearce was pivotal as Australia won their first Olympic medal (bronze) in men's hockey in 1964 and when the Kookaburras went on to claim silver in 1968.

Despite Australia losing to Pakistan 2-1 in the gold-medal match, Pearce starred in the 1968 Olympic final, a match regarded as one of the best Olympic finals of all time.

Pearce was the 170th player capped for the Kookaburras and played 59 international matches between 1960 and 1970.

In 1999 he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.

The HA board also ratified eight new inductees into the Hockey Australia Hall of Fame.

Colin Batch, Tracey Belbin, Lisa Carruthers-Powell, Dwyer, Peter Haselhurst and Juliet Haslam will be inducted to the HA Hall of Fame's Athlete Category.

Richard Jewell and Lisa Roach will be inducted into the Hall of Fame General Category for their distinguished careers as umpires.

This will take the number of people inducted into the HA Hall of Fame to 79 since it was launched with 22 inductees in 2008.