In a process for the production of fatty alcohol(s) a fatty acid or fatty acid mixture is subjected to esterification with a lower alkanol to form a stream comprising the corresponding lower alkyl ester or esters. The stream is vaporized and subjected to hydrogenation to form a stream comprising fatty alcohol(s) and an amount of unconverted lower alkyl ester(s). This stream is subjected to transesterification in a wax ester reactor in the presence of a solid transesterification catalyst. Fatty alcohol(s) and wax ester(s) are then separated by distillation to yield a fatty alcohol(s) product and a stream comprising wax ester(s). The stream of wax ester(s) is passed to a second hydrogenation zone to effect hydrogenation in the liquid phase to revert the wax ester(s) to fatty alcohol(s), which are returned to the distillation separation step.
