National philosophy olympiads have been held in Bulgaria since 1988, organized by the Faculty of Philosophy of Sofia University. On the initiative of the Bulgarian Committee of the (national) philosophy olympiad, the event was opened for international participation in the early 1990ies, resulting in the :

• I. International Philosophy Olympiad (IPO) held in Bulgaria in 1993.
• II. IPO: May 1994, Petric, Bulgaria. Participants: Bulgaria, Rumania, Turkey, Poland, Germany.
• III. IPO: May 1995, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. Participants: Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Poland, Germany.
  During the III. IPO, the "International Organizing Committee for IPO" was created with the adoption of a Letter of Intent. Its secretariat is located at Sofia University (Prof. Ivan Kolev).
  At a meeting of experts of philosophy education held at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris in February 1995 in connection with UNESCO's project on "Philosophy and Democracy in the World," it was decided to promote the organization of national and international competitions along the lines of the philosophy olympiads with the aim of "encouraging the practice of philosophical, critical thinking and stimulating, through competition, the interest of young people in philosophy."
• IV. IPO: May 1996, Istanbul, Turkey. Participants: Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Germany.
  Unesco declares the IPO as "perfectly consonant with the organzation's concerns."
• V. IPO: May 1997, Warszaw, Poland. Participants: Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Lithuania, Germany.
• VI. IPO: April 1998, Brasov, Romania. Participants: Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Turkey, Germany, Hungary, Ukraine, Albania.
• VII. IPO: May 1999, Budapest, Hungary. Participants: Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Turkey, Romania, Ukraine, Germany, USA, Argentina, Italy, Slovenia.
• VIII. IPO: May 2000, Munster, Germany. Participants: Argentina, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey, USA.
  The Organizing Committee elaborates a new statute, on the basis of which the IPO will in future be organized under the auspices of the International Federation of Philosophical Societies (Federation Internationale des Societes de Philosophie, FISP).
• IX. IPO: May 2001, Philadelphia, USA. Participants: Argentina, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey, Uruguay, USA, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.
• X. IPO: May 12-16, 2002, Tokyo, Japan. Participants: Argentina, Bulgaria, Finland,Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine.
• XI. IPO: May 7-10, 2003, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Participants: Argentina, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Paraguay, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, USA.
• XII. IPO: May 19 - 23, Seoul, South Korea, Participants: Argentina, Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Paraguay, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay
• XIII. IPO: May 19 -23, Warsaw, Poland, : in organization