It is understood by the carbon dating of Umu (ovens) that the Māori people settled in this region some 700 years ago.

The district takes its name from the Buller River, itself named for Charles Buller, a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (UK) and director of the New Zealand Company, a UK-based company established in the early 19th century with a royal charter supporting colonisation efforts of New Zealand.

During the period 1853 to 1876, the current area of Buller District was administered as part of Nelson Province.

With the Abolition of Provinces Act 1876, much of the current area of Buller District was administered in the newly created (January 1877) bodies of Buller County and Inangahua County.

Buller District was the only territorial authority of New Zealand to see a population decrease between the 2013 and 2023 censuses.

The results were 90.6% European (Pākehā); 13.0% Māori; 1.7% Pasifika; 3.3% Asian; 0.6% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 4.3% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander".