The parish of Haabøl was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt).

The largest village in Hobøl was Tomter, whose railway station is served by Eastern Østfold Line.

The 1973 oil crisis postponed that plan, and the new airport was finally built at Gardermoen, north of Oslo.

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Hobøl farm (Old Norse: Hóbœli), since the first church was built here.

The municipality is mainly formed by a large valley, cut by the meandering Hobølelva river.