The original medieval church stood on this site for centuries, with a sacristy added to the north at some point during the Middle Ages. In 1815 disaster struck when fire destroyed much of the building, leaving only the outer walls standing. A new church was built in 1818, reusing the old rubble-and-lime-mortar walls, while the former freestanding bell tower was replaced by the wooden tower that still rises at the west end today.
The church was altered again in 1926–27, when a narrower chancel was added to the east to designs by the architect Sven Brandel; the earlier chancel was absorbed into the main body of the church. A further renovation in 1953 saw new flooring laid throughout, the walls replastered, and the whole interior repainted, along with the installation of electric heating.
Among the church's furnishings is an altar crucifix rescued from the 1815 fire, a tangible link to the building that stood before. A weapon-house also houses an old alms chest, and a tall case clock from the 1700s, restored in 1953, still stands in the church. The font in use today dates from 1946.
The church has had a succession of organs. The first was built in 1864 by Johannes Andersson of Långaryd, followed by a larger instrument from 1915 by Eskil Lundén of Gothenburg. The current mechanical organ dates from 1975, the work of Ingvar Johansson's Västbo Orgelbyggeri, also based in Långaryd. A smaller chancel organ, originally built as a domestic instrument in the 1870s by Peter Johan Lortenzson of Lidhult, was later adapted for church use and restored in 1978.
Set among greenery with the ground sloping down behind it towards the lake and a headland known locally as "kyrkudden", Odensjö kyrka remains a picturesque and tranquil spot, its long and eventful history still visible in its walls, tower and furnishings.