The present invention is a polarization independent optical isolator including two polarizing separation members each configured to separate polarization components of a transmitted light, an absorptive polarizer arranged on optical paths of separated transmitted lights and corresponding to a plane of polarization of each separated transmitted light, and a Faraday rotator, wherein the Faraday rotator is arranged downstream of the absorptive polarizer in a forward direction. As a result, there can be provided a polarization independent optical isolator that requires no stray light processing of separated optical feedback and shows high isolation.