It is the church for the Ølve parish which is part of the Sunnhordland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Around the 1640s, the old stave church was torn down and replaced with a new timber-framed building (one source says that this may have happened in 1615).

The church was owned by the Barony from 1678 until 1855 when it was sold to the municipality.

Soon afterwards, the municipality determined that the old church needed to be replaced.

In 1953, an extension on the north side of the choir was constructed during a major repair and rebuilding of the church that was carried out under the direction of architect Torgeir Alvsaker.