The Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn has been operating under this name since 1 October 2008 pursuant to Resolution No. 18 of the Senate of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn of 19 September 2008. It previously operated as the Faculty of Social Sciences and Arts and in 1999-2004, as the Faculty of Pedagogy and Arts Education. Currently, since 1 January 2020, the Faculty of Social Sciences consists of two units – the Institute of Pedagogical Sciences and the Institute of Political Sciences, including the Chair of Sociology. However, the tradition of pedagogical, psychological, political and sociological sciences in the Olsztyn academic community is much longer. Pedagogical sciences originate from the Department of Pedagogy at the Higher School of Agriculture in Olsztyn (1965) and the Faculty of Pedagogy in the Higher Teacher Education School in Olsztyn (1969), psychological sciences were started in the Department of Psychology at the Higher Teacher Education School in Olsztyn (1971), political sciences have their roots in the Faculty of Humanities of the Higher Teacher Education School in Olsztyn (1969), while the development of sociological sciences began at the Higher School of Pedagogy in Olsztyn at the Faculty of Pedagogy (1998).

Since its establishment, the structure of the Faculty of Social Sciences has undergone numerous transformations. In January 2009, the Institute of Music and the Institute of Fine Arts were separated from the Faculty to become a part of the new Faculty of Arts. New chairs – the Chair of General Pedagogy, the Chair of Resocialisation Pedagogy, the Chair of Early Education, the Chair of Didactics and History of Education, the Chair of Development Psychology and Education were established in place of the liquidated departments, and new academic structures, such as the Chair of Axiological Bases of Education and the Chair for the Education Theory, became a part of the faculty.

In 2009, the Faculty of Social Sciences was granted the right to confer doctoral degrees in the discipline of political sciences, and in November 2011, the Presidium of the Polish Accreditation Committee, after evaluating the quality of education in the programme of Political Sciences at the first- and second-degree level, awarded a distinguishing grade to the programme, as one of three institutions in Poland.

At present, the Faculty of Social Sciences is developing in the field of social sciences, not in humanities. The Faculty Council of the Faculty of Social Sciences holds the right to grant doctoral degrees in social sciences in the discipline of pedagogy and the degree of doctor habilitated in social sciences in the discipline of pedagogy, as well as the right to confer the degree of doctor of social sciences in the discipline of political sciences.  As of 31 December 2018, 131 academic teachers and 19 non-teachers were employed at the Faculty.

As a consequence of the Act of 20 July 2018 Law on Higher Education and Science, the organisational structure of the faculty was changed in the academic year 2019/2020. Some research units were liquidated, while new ones were created as the result of transformations or establishment of new entities. On 10 October 2019, the Scientific Council for the Discipline of Pedagogy was established (chaired by dr hab. Marzenna Nowicka, prof. UWM), and on 23 October 2019, the Team for the Discipline of Political Sciences and Administration was set up (chaired by prof. dr hab. Arkadiusz Żukowski). The first compositions of the above-mentioned units were appointed for the period until 31 December 2021. On 1 January 2020, pursuant to Regulation 116/2019 of the UWM Rector dated 19 December 2019, the Institute of Pedagogical Sciences was created (with dr hab. Marzenna Nowicka, prof. UWM as the director), consisting of the following units: the Chair of Didactics and Early Education (headed by dr hab. Małgorzata Suświłło, prof. UWM), the Chair of Clinical Psychology, Development and Education (headed by dr hab. Beata Krzywosz-Rynkiewicz, prof. UWM), the Chair of Special Pedagogy and Resocialisation (headed by dr hab. Sławomir Przybyliński, prof. UWM), the Chair of General and Childcare Pedagogy (prof. dr hab. Józef Górniewicz), the Chair of Social Pedagogy and Educational Research Methodology (prof. dr hab. Henryk Mizerek), and changes were introduced to the internal structure of the Institute of Political Sciences (director: prof. dr hab. Arkadiusz Żukowski), forming two chairs – the Chair of Sociology (prof. dr hab. Marek Sokołowski) and the Chair of Political Sciences and Security Science (headed by dr hab. Marcin Chełminiak, prof. UWM). The Centre for Pedagogical and Vocational Practice, already operating within the structure of the Faculty of Social Sciences, became its supporting unit on 13 January 2020.