EANO was established by formal constitution in Brussels in 1994 by a group of European neuro-oncologists who saw the need to have an official group to promote the role of, and to professionalise, neuro-oncology in Europe.

The idea to form EANO was first proposed in 1990 by G. Hildebrand, L. Salford, P. Krauseneck, J. Darling, B. Müller and A. Twijnstra. In 1992 Peter Krauseneck invited neurooncologists from all over Europe to Pommersfelden (Germany) to prepare the foundations of EANO through the nomination of an Ad Hoc Steering Board. In 1993 G. Hildebrand (Chairman of the Ad Hoc Steering Board) officialised EANO at Brussels with a preliminary bylaw. The first EANO Meeting (organised by A. Twijnstra) was held in Maastricht in 1994, during which 180 of the participants established the Association by formal election. 

Over the following decades, EANO evolved into an internationally leading, vibrant, interdisciplinary and multiprofessional society representing the many faces of European Neuro-Oncology with a multitude of activities and projects aiming at advancing education, research and care for patients affected by tumors of the nervous system.