Planning of an airfield at Ørland was started in January 1941 and the decision was announced by the Wehrmacht on 22 April 1941. Within ten days work on expropriation for 45 landowners started. The airport was planned to have a 1,600 by 120 meters (5,250 by 390 ft) runway, although this had been lengthened to 2,000 meters (6,600 ft) by the time the runway was completed in late 1941. The runway was aligned roughly east–west at 228.4 degrees and made of wood. Construction of a second, 1,600 by 50 meters (5,250 by 160 ft) concrete runway commenced in 1942. This work took much longer time and was not completed until mid 1944. This runway is part of the northern end of the current runway. A third runway was also planned, but no more than some leveling had been completed by the end of the war in April 1945.

Within days the airport had been taken over by the Royal Air Force. The air station was officially taken over by the RNoAF on 2 November 1945. Funding to upgrade the airport were dropped in 1946, but the air force continued to work with expansion proposals. Ørland saw a limited amount of civilian traffic. The first route was established by Trøndelag Flyveselskap in 1949, which operated a route to Trondheim Airport, Lade using a three-seat Auster. The route was quickly terminated.

The decision to upgrade the airport was taken in 1950, following the decision that Norway would receive the F-84 Thunderjet through the Marshall Plan. They required a much longer runway than the existing de Havilland Vampires and the air force wanted to have one airport with sufficient runway length for them in each of its regions. For Central Norway the air force therefore decided to upgrade Ørland's main runway to 2,700 by 50 meters (8,860 by 160 ft). Construction started in April 1952 and was completed in June 1952. Work then started on the parallel 2,600-by-25-meter (8,530 by 82 ft) runway, which was completed in November. The initial investment program for the airport concluded in July 1954 with the completion of a fire station. The air force and its 332 Squadron started using the airport on 31 May 1954.

During the early 1950s, Widerøe and Polarfly would occasionally use the airfield for air ambulance services. Scandinavian Airlines System received permission on 3 March 1953 to use Ørlandet as an alternative airfield for its route to Northern Norway; the permission was expanded to also include their North Pole route to Los Angeles. In the course of ten years this resulted in six or seven landings. From 1958 to 1962 a direct cargo route with crabs and fish was established between Ørlandet and Stockholm, using a Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar.

Braathens SAFE introduced a summer scheduled service from Ørland to Trondheim Airport, Værnes in 1967, but there were not sufficient passengers to reintroduce it the following year. The Værnes route was reopened by Widerøe in 1971. A small cabin was at first used as a passenger terminal, but a larger terminal building was completed in 1978. This resulted in the airport's historical peak level of service, with four daily services. An early morning and late evening flight were provided to Værnes, where there was possibilities to transfer to north- and south-bound flights. Two more services were provided by flights which connected to the airports in Helgeland and Western Norway. The military enforced strict restrictions on civilian traffic until 1985, when the airport received national airport status.

This resulted in a further expansion of the civilian section, especially the size of the apron. During mid-1986 the runway at Værnes was to be replaced and Ørland was used as a substitute. At the same time Ørland Municipality hoped to establish a heliport at Ørland to serve oil fields in Haltenbanken, but this was instead located to Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget. Widerøe had throughout the 1980s been reducing its activity at Ørland and terminated its last flights in 1987. Norving chose to start four daily services, but they were forced to close them later the same year. The municipality started a push to establish a new airline at the airport. Valdresfly established a route to Værnes in 1994, but was forced to close the following year. With the opening of Oslo Airport, Gardermoen in 1998, both Valdresfly and Heli-Trans wanted to fly the route, and the municipality chose Heli-Trans. The route started on 15 April 1998, but was closed in October.

In 2001, low-cost carrier Ryanair announced that they were considering to open a route from Ørland to London. Ryanair stated that the fees charged at Trondheim Airport, Værnes was too high for them, and the municipality stated that they were willing to stretch themselves far on low landing fees to attract Ryanair. Ryanair was already serving the Oslo area from Sandefjord Airport, Torp, which is a military air station which has been converted to a low-cost airport. If started, they initially planned daily flights to London Stansted Airport. In September 2002, the municipality and Ryanair signed an agreement, which, if activated, would start Ryanair flights to Brekstad.