On 1 April 1936, Orissa Province was formed. The first provincial government formed under Prime ministership of Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deo. He ruled until July 1937. Thereafter the All India Congress party leader Bishwanath Das took over the charge of Prime minister for two more years. Again Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati took the charge before he finally handed over to Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab in the year 1946. After India got its independence under the new framework the Prime Minister or Premier position of provincial governments got abolished and the position of Chief Minister is created. Until the first election after independence, Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab continued to be the chief minister of Odisha and then it was taken over by Nabakrushna Choudhury. Here is the list of chief ministers of Odisha since 1946. Since 1946, Odisha has had 14 chief ministers. Serving from 2000 till 2024, Naveen Patnaik of the Biju Janata Dal was the longest-serving chief minister in Odisha's history. The current Chief Minister of Odisha since 12 June 2024 is Mohan Charan Majhi of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
^This column only names the chief minister's party. The state government he heads may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.
^ abcdefWhen President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.[2]
^ abDurga Das Basu. Introduction to the Constitution of India. 1960. 20th Edition, 2011 Reprint. pp. 241, 245. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. ISBN978-81-8038-559-9. Note: although the text talks about Indian state governments in general, it applies for the specific case of Odisha as well.