Diving was contested at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis, and its appearance on the Olympic programme in both springboard and platform events has been continuous since 1908. The diving programme has been relatively constant since 1928, with men and women competing in both the 10 metre platform and the 3 metre springboard events. Prior to that time, a men's event for plain high diving was on the programme in 1912, 1920 and 1924. Early Olympic competitions also differed in the heights of the platform and springboard.

Two new events were added to the Olympic programme in 2000 for both men and women, these being synchronised platform diving and synchronised springboard diving. These events consist of two divers leaving the platform or springboard simultaneously and diving together. Usually the athletes perform the same dive, although occasionally dives which complement each other are chosen.

The United States has dominated the sport of diving, perhaps to an even greater extent than any sport at the Olympics. In the late 1980s the Chinese entered diving competition and posed the first serious threat to this dominance. While the United States' Greg Louganis was still competing the Chinese men posted few victories, but the Chinese women have been almost unbeatable of late. Now that Louganis, considered the greatest diver ever, is retired, China is also considered the top nation in the men's events.