Compared with inorganic semiconductor optical waveguides, organic polymer waveguides have obvious advantages such as easy processing and convenient integration. Research status of organic polymer optical waveguides is summarized, where the material classification and the fabrication of polymer optical waveguides are included. The application status of polymer planar optical waveguides and polymer microstructured fiber waveguides is mainly summarized. The prospect of polymer optical waveguides is discussed, and some suggestions are put forward.