Olney began as a small village in the suburbs of Philadelphia County made up of a community of farms and three main roads— Clinton Street, Olney Road, and the Kensington-Oxford turnpike, today known as Mascher Street, Tabor Road and Rising Sun Avenue, respectively.  It was named after the estate of Alexander Wilson, which resided on Rising Sun Avenue near Tookany Creek from 1840 to 1924. (Wilson was an admirer of the poet Cowper of Olney, England, who wrote the famous Olney Hymns of the Methodist Church)

As the city of Philadelphia grew northwards, the area became more urbanized.  People seeking to escape the growing population density towards the center moved to Olney.  Soon after, businesses began appearing along 5th Street, centered at Olney Avenue.  Industry was also attracted and companies such as Brown Instrument Division, Proctor and Schwartz, and Heintz Manufacturing Company built factories in the neighborhood.  The population grew even more after the construction of the Broad Street Subway, which originally ended at Olney Avenue.  Combined with trolley lines that travelled east and west, this made Olney Philadelphia's northern transportation hub and gave Olney residents easy access to the entire city and beyond.

In 1925, Colney Theatre was constructed, which then had the largest one-floor seating capacity in the world with room for almost 2000 people.  In 1931, Olney High School graduated its first class and for a time had the highest enrollment in the city with approximately 3600 students. 

Civic pride was abundant in the "city within a city." Olney residents lobbied the city intensely for the constructions of playgrounds and the library at 5th Street and Tabor Road.  Community members even put together an amateur Olney Symphony Orchestra (which still plays concerts) and started their own newspaper, the Olney Times, which closed in December of 2008, days before its 100th anniversary.

The Olney area was settled by German- and Irish-Americans, and that European culture remained predominant until the mid-1900s.  Around the 1960s, Olney began to change.  Large numbers of African Americans began migrating into the area from other parts of the city.  As part of the deindustrialization of Philadelphia, industries closed factories and moved from the area.

This receding population was quickly supplemented by a new wave of residents from Asia and Latin America.  This new population quickly filled the vacancies left behind in the commercial district, and today the 5th Street Business District is still a vital economic center.  These groups also maintained Olney's historic civic pride through the creation of organizations such as the Korean Community Development Services Center.

Today, Olney is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Philadelphia and is comprised of over 30 different ethnic groups, from German, Irish, and Ukrainian to Korean, Vietnamese, and Cambodian to Puerto Rican, Colombian, Mexican, and Caribbean to African-American and West African.  Olney Transportation Center, while no longer the terminal of the Broad Street Subway line, is still the second-most frequented station, the first being City Hall.  There are thriving business districts at 5th, Front, and Broad Streets centered on Olney Avenue.

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