Jack Kirby is a legend in the comic book industry, having a hand in the creation of a litany of iconic superheroes for both Marvel and DC. These include Captain America, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four for Marvel, as well as the New Gods for DC. A lesser known, but still pivotal influence that he had on the latter publisher involved his work on Green Arrow. Much like The Flash, Green Lantern, and Aquaman, the Silver Age Green Arrow got a brand new origin, courtesy of none other than the King of Comics. Completely changing Oliver Queen's backstory and occupation, Jack Kirby's new origin for Green Arrow continues to shape the Emerald Archer to this day.
Green Arrow's first origin was first seen in More Fun Comics #89, written and drawn by Joseph Samachson and Cliff Young. This vastly different origin featured Oliver Queen as an archaeologist who specialized in Native American artifacts. His museum had been burned to the ground by treasure-seeking crooks, who also killed the only ally of a stranded young man named Roy Harper.
Upon meeting the boy, the two began taking the criminals out with their mutually impressive archery skills, gaining the names Green Arrow and Speedy from off-handed remarks that the bad guys make. Finding the treasure that their attackers were after, the duo becomes independently wealthy, a status which they use to fund their new crime-fighting careers. It's also worth noting that Oliver Queen was already an expert archer before this incident, while Roy had gained his proficiency with a bow by hunting after becoming stranded.
The new origin written and drawn by Jack Kirby appeared in Adventure Comics #256, which set the pace for comics and TV shows for years to come. Here, Oliver Queen was no longer an archaeologist and instead was an already wealthy playboy. Ironically, this made him even closer to Batman, as he already had several gadgets and other attributes that heavily resembled the Caped Crusader. However, the seeds of Green Arrow's development as an independent character far removed from Batman would begin with this new origin.
Touring on a private cruise ship, Oliver would fall off of the boat and become stranded on Starfish Island. Forced to use a rather primitive makeshift bow and arrow, Oliver quickly becomes an excellent archer out of sheer necessity to survive. He would also make a leaf green costume for himself to better blend in with his surroundings. When a freighter arrived near the island, Oliver attempted to get its attention to be saved. Instead, he would end up playing the hero by saving the ship's crew, who had been overtaken by a band of pirates. From then on, he would call himself the Green Arrow, devoting his new skills to heroism.
This new origin essentially takes Roy's Golden Age origin and gives it to Oliver, as well as providing a more organic, if a bit trite, reason for his wealth. Though a few elements have been changed here and there, this origin has stuck with the character ever since. The first major revision came in Mike Grell's Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters, where the pirates are rendered instead as rather mundane marijuana smugglers. The Golden Age idea of Green Arrow getting his name from the crooks is brought back, however, with the wasted smugglers frightfully referring to him as such due to their own insobriety.
Green Arrow's next two comic book origins would greatly expand the role of the island, with Year One combining the drug smugglers and pirates into a fearsome threat. Likewise, Jeff Lemire's origin for the character during the New 52 had him intentionally stranded there by his father, in order to prepare him in the ways of archery to take over the Arrow Clan and become a hero. Elements of all of these takes showed up in the TV show Arrow, which showcased the intricacies of Oliver's being stranded on the island (referred to there as Lian Yu) for five seasons before completing that storyline. Other places where the backstory has shown up are The Batman and Smallville. Though there have been several different idiosyncrasies added by various creators over the years, this now iconic origin for Green Arrow would have never been told if not for Jack Kirby.