An optical resolving reagent comprising at least one of compounds represented by the following formulae (1) and (2) (1) (2) (wherein R1 to R8 each represents hydrogen or C1-20 alkyl; R9 represents optionally substituted C1-20 alkyl, optionally substituted C1-20 alkenyl, formyl, or acyl; and R10 represents C1-6 alkyl; provided that the molecule represented by the formula (1) is of the cis configuration with respect to R9 and OR10); and a method of optically resolving with the optical resolving reagent an alcohol having an asymmetric carbon atom in the molecule and represented by the formula (3): (R11)(R12)(R13)COH (wherein R11, R12, and R13 each represents hydrogen or optionally substituted C1-20 alkyl, provided that at least one of R11, R12, and R13 is not hydrogen). The method of optical resolution is highly suitable for general purposes. By the method, a mixture of optical isomers of any of various alcohols can be optically resolved easily and industrially advantageously.