Pharmacy was first established as a Department in the former Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Ibadan Branch, in 1957. When the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) was established in 1962, it remained a Department within the Faculty of Science. It, however, continued to award Diploma in Pharmacy till June 1965 while concurrently a programme for the B.Pharm. degree was started in September 1963.
The Senate of the University upgraded the Department into a full Faculty status with effect from 1st October, 1969. Consequently, the growth of the Faculty continued at the Ibadan Campus of the University until it transferred to her present building on the Ile-Ife campus in September 1972.
The Faculty over the period of its growth and development, had three units which were incorporated into the departments until during the 1978/79 session when the three units were separated from departments and merged into a unit; the Drug Research and Production Unit. In 1983, the senate approved the unit as an autonomous department in the Faculty of Pharmacy.
There Faculty currently has the following five academic departments and one unit:

• Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Administration
• Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
• Department of Pharmaceutics
• Department of Pharmacognosy
• Department of Pharmacology
• Drug Research and Production Unit

The faculty has established postgraduate programmes in all her departments. This has been facilitated partly by the staff development programme of the University which has contributed immensely towards the availability of Teaching and Research staff in the faculty.