Ọlọrun is frequently perceived as a compassionate entity who protects its creations and is thought to be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.

[3][4] Olorun has no gender in the Ifá Literary Corpus, and is always referred to as an entity who exists in spiritual form only.

[7] These orisa or orishas are supernatural beings, both good (egungun) and bad (ajogun), who represent human activity and natural forces, all at the same time, and is all harmonious, all possessed of equilibrium and worth.

[10] From the Yoruba language, Olorun's name is a contraction of the words oní (which denotes ownership or rulership) and ọ̀run (which means the Heavens, abode of the spirits).

Another name, Olodumare, comes from the phrase "O ní odù mà rè" meaning "the owner of the source of creation that does not become empty," "or the All Sufficient".