The Academy was established in 1996 through the amalgamation of five independent colleges – the colleges of art and crafts, theatre, ballet, opera and the academy of fine arts. These former colleges are now organised in three faculties: Faculty of Design, Faculty of Performing Arts and Faculty of Visual Arts.

The Oslo National Academy of the Arts has so far been housed in several buildings in Oslo. As of the summer of 2003, the Faculty of Performing Arts was moved to the new campus at the old textile plant Seilduken at Grünerløkka in central Oslo. In the summer of 2008, the remaining faculties will join. This will be an extraordinary campus situated by the dramatic waterfall of the Akerselva, an industrial river that gave power to the industrial development of the city in the 19^th century.