A short pulse, high energy, high repetition rate dye amplifier with superior conversion efficiency is reported. The dye amplifier is composed of three single-pass dye cells, longitudinally pumped by a frequency doubled 1 kHz Nd:YLF regenerative amplifier. The dye amplifier yields 3.5 ps, 150 muJ pulses at 595 nm, corresponding to a 12% conversion efficiency. The ASE is 1% or less, and the transverse mode quality is near-Gaussian.