Based in Manosque, France, it was founded in 1976 by Olivier Baussan with the purpose of creating a company that celebrates and preserves the traditions of his native Provence.

In 1976, 23-year-old Olivier Baussan used steam distillation to produce essential oil from wild rosemary[3] and lavender, which he sold at open-air markets in his native Provence.

In 1976, using an old soap factory that was donated to him, Olivier Baussan revived the traditional art of Marseille soap-making in Manosque, another Provençal village.

[9] In 2013, the company employed 6,600 people worldwide and created a new brand L'Occitane au Brésil, focused on products from Brazil.

[4] In April 2024, L'Occitane International issued a filing stating that Geiger would aim to take the company private and delist it from the exchange.

L'Occitane contributes to preserve traditional cultivation methods by: In addition to products sourced from Provence, shea butter is purchased directly from women's groups in Burkina Faso as Fair Trade with the ECOCERT certification.

[25] L'Occitane bought Groupe M&A Development and its subsidiary, M&A Santé Beauté, which includes the organic cosmetic brand Melvita, in 2008.

[26] The company, which was founded in the Ardèche in 1983 by French biologist Bernard Chevilliat, commercialises ecological and organic cosmetics principally in France.

La Fondation d'Entreprise L'Occitane is a private organisation founded in 2006 by the company, with a budget of 4 million euros for 6 years, to support visually impaired people and help the economic emancipation of women.

It supports associations for the visually impaired, particularly in Burkina Faso with NGOs that are specialised in training professionals to reduce blindness.

To support economic emancipation of women, the L'Occitane Foundation partnered with the association Faa-I-tuora to improve the way of living of people in Dissin, in the South West region of Burkina Faso.

In 2013, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) decided to recognise L'Occitane en Provence as an exemplary company within the framework of its 2013 "Growing Inclusive Markets" initiative.