In 1952, the school opened its doors at Cragmont Assembly, a retreat center owned by Original Free Will Baptists, in Black Mountain, North Carolina, under the guidance of Reverend Lloyd Vernon. In 1953, the school moved to Mount Olive, North Carolina. The school started a liberal arts-based program. Under Chairman of the Board of Directors, Reverend David, W. Hansley, institutional leaders discussed whether the school should offer programs in the arts, sciences and business. In the summer of 1954, the school started its first official year. Its inaugural class consisted of only twenty-two students.
In 1956, Mount Allen Junior College was renamed Mount Olive Junior College, and in 1958, the college received accreditation from the North Carolina College Conference and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Initially, the school’s label as a liberal arts school concerned some Baptists who desired that the school retain its Christian education but close acquaintances of the college encouraged the liberal arts curriculum.
The school’s expansion led to the construction of its first buildings in 1965 on a plot of land located on the boundary of Mount Olive that is today 138 acres. In September 1970, the school’s name was changed to Mount Olive College. In 1979, with encouragement from the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists, the Board of Trustees voted to make Mount Olive a senior accredited college.
In the mid 1980s, the college added junior- and senior-level programs, and in December 1986, the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association authorized Mount Olive College as an official four-year university awarding associate and baccalaureate degrees.
Mount Olive College began an educational program for military and resident students at the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro. As a result, Mount Olive offered more non-traditional student programs in New Bern (1993), Wilmington (1995), and Durham (1997). In 2014, the Board of Trustees changed its name to the University of Mount Olive in recognition of its broadening array of educational programs.Today, the University of Mount Olive offers more than forty majors. In 2023, the school had 2,128 students, of whom 772 were part-time.