The Frankish settlement called Reichelsheim lay roughly where the commercial development now lies in northwest Nieder-Olm and can still be made out in aerial photographs.

It is established by documents that in 899 Archbishop of Mainz Hatto I made over a landholding called Ulmena (Olm) to the wife of Emperor Arnulf of Carinthia with a lifetime term.

In 994, at Emperor Otto III's behest, the estate was put back under the Archbishopric's ownership.

In the late 11th century, ownership was transferred to the Mainz Cathedral Foundation, in which time also arose Saint George's Catholic Church, expedited by strong ecclesiastical influence.

In 1503, Archbishop Berthold had the castle newly built to meet the requirements of what were then modern attack techniques.

During the Thirty Years' War, Nieder-Olm was repeatedly overrun by the enemy and in 1632 it was occupied by Swedish troops.

Only a short time later – the Republic of Mainz only lasted 100 days – Nieder-Olm was reconquered by Imperial troops.

A border station of the occupied Rhineland was set up in an inn at that time, the Gasthaus zur schönen Aussicht.

Having been returned to German sovereignty in 1929, Nieder-Olm was no more spared National Socialism than any other part of Germany.

Into the history of the Second World War went Nieder-Olm when during the Allied advance, scattered German troops in the Selz valley put up considerable resistance.

Bearing witness to this time are American emplacements west of the Selz, which have, however, for safety's sake, been filled in.

Also in the last two decades, development was steadily furthered: new residential areas were laid out and older ones continually expanded.

The Rhineland-Palatinate Cabinet decided on 24 October 2006 to grant Nieder-Olm the designation “town” (Stadt in German).

The Autobahn A 63 from Kaiserslautern to Mainz passes Nieder-Olm in the west and is linked to the town through two interchanges.

On the one hand it is easy to reach the important north–south connection, the A 61 along this road, and on the other, it serves as a feeder to the urban agglomeration of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region and the other Autobahnen that lead there.

Nieder-Olm is connected to local public transport by the ORN (Omnibusverkehr Rhein-Nahe GmbH), a bus company: In the east of downtown is found the Deutsche Bahn railway station.