Osprey was established in 1968. It was owned by Berkshire Printing, part of Brooke Bond, the tea company. The company was formed to publish Aircam Aviation, its first series, the brainchild of Dick Ward, the leading aviation illustrator. The series grew out of his work on the collectable cards which were then packaged with Brooke Bond tea.

In 1998, Osprey became an independent company and moved from London to Oxford. The decision was soon taken to focus exclusively on publishing on warfare and military history in the established series, which had for many years been the business's trademark product.

Osprey will continue to bring together expert authors and illustrators and military-history enthusiasts by delivering the information readers need to increase their knowledge and to enrich their leisure or professional pursuits. Osprey's enthusiasm for military history is balanced by an equal enthusiasm for excellent publishing.