Abstract: Genetically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Yarrowia lipolytica for the production of fatty alcohols, including hexadecanol and octadecanol, are provided. The S. cerevisiae and Y. lipolytica can be genetically engineered to express or over-express a plurality of enzymes involved in fatty alcohol synthesis, such as acyl-CoA thioesterase, fatty acyl reductase, fatty acyl activating enzyme and fatty acyl synthetase, and can be further genetically engineered with a deficiency in one or more enzymes involved in fatty acid oxidation, such as fatty acyl-CoA oxidase. Methods of producing fatty alcohols, such as hexadecanol and octadecanol, by fermenting the genetically engineered S. cerevisiae and Y. lipolytica are also described.