He was named best actor at the 88th Academy Awards, with Brie Larson named best actress Oscar for Room, BBC reports.

DiCaprio received a standing ovation as he picked up his award, having had five acting nominations and one nomination as producer of best picture nominee Wolf of Wall Street.

He said making The Revenant was "about man's relationship to the natural world".

"Climate change is real - it is happening right now," he said. "It is the most urgent threat right now to our entire species and we need to work now.

"Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted."

The Revenant won three of the 12 awards it was nominated for. Alejandro Inarritu won best director and Emmanuel Lubezki won his third Oscar for cinematography in a row, having won in 2015 for Birdman and 2014 for Gravity.

Spotlight took home the best picture Oscar with Mad Max: Fury Road picking up the most awards of the night, with six accolades, BBC informs.

Mark Rylance won the best supporting actor Oscar, with fellow Briton Sam Smith winning best original song.