The Orlov Regional Museum is one of the oldest museums in Oryol and the region. It was opened on December 7, 1897, when the Oryol Archive Scientific Commission, established in 1884, organized the opening ceremony of the Oryol Provincial Museum. A record of this event is preserved in the museum's guestbook, indicating that the museum was opened by the governor A. N. Trubnikov. The museum was located in the building of the provincial administration at the corner of Sadovaya Street (now M. Gorky Street) and Sverbeevsky Lane. Visitors could leave their feedback in a specially made book from Moscow, which is still a valuable exhibit today.

The museum included twelve departments, such as geography, archaeology, natural sciences, ethnography, and others. Later, military-historical collections were added. The museum also collected materials related to famous writers and poets from the Oryol region, such as I. S. Turgenev and I. A. Bunin.

During World War I, the museum was used as an evacuation point but continued to hold exhibitions, including those dedicated to the war. After the 1917 revolution, the museum began to be replenished with new exhibits from nationalized collections. In 1919, it was reopened as the Historical and Art Museum.

During the Great Patriotic War, part of the collections was evacuated, but the museum continued to operate even during the occupation. After the war, the museum resumed its activities, creating new exhibitions, including those about the Great Patriotic War. In the post-war years, the museum expanded and updated.

Today, the museum has two branches: the V. A. Rusanov House Museum and the Military Historical Museum. It publishes a collection called "Local History Notes" and participates in the "Night at the Museum" event. The museum's collections hold over 170,000 unique items. In 2017, the museum celebrated its 120th anniversary.