[4][5] Ortigas station was opened on December 15, 1999, as part of MRT's initial section from North Avenue to Buendia.

A few government buildings are also located in the station's vicinity including the central offices of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Migrant Workers, the Ortigas office of the Department of Transportation, and the Philippine Railways Institute, as well as educational institutions like Saint Pedro Poveda College and La Salle Green Hills.

The EDSA Shrine, Meralco Theater, Lopez Museum, The Medical City, Eton Cyberpod, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza and Oakwood Premier hotels are also nearby.

[4] During the opening of the line in 1999, the Metro Rail Transit Corporation (MRTC) stated that the reason behind this was because the Asian Development Bank, whose headquarters is located next to the station, "refuses to give MRTC the right-of-way" due to the ADB property being "quasi-sovereign" land under their agreement with the Philippine government.

Due to this, the sidewalk fencing around the escalator was temporarily moved to partially occupy the EDSA northbound bicycle lane.