The Premier of British Columbia is the First Minister for the Canadian province of British Columbia. The province was a British crown colony governed by the Governors of British Columbia before joining Canadian Confederation in 1871. Since then, it has had a unicameral Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the Premier is the leader of the party that controls the most seats in the Legislative Assembly. The Premier is British Columbia's head of government, and the Queen of Canada is its head of state and is represented by the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. The Premier picks a cabinet from the elected members to form the Executive Council of British Columbia and presides over that body.

Members are first elected to the legislature during general elections. General elections must be conducted every four years from the date of the last election. An election may also take place if the governing party loses the confidence of the legislature by the defeat of a supply bill or tabling of a no-confidence motion.

Before 1903, British Columbia did not use a party system; instead, Premiers of British Columbia had no official party affiliation and were chosen by elected members of the Legislative Assembly from among themselves. Candidates ran as "Government", "Opposition", "Independent", or in formulations such as "Opposition independent", indicating their respective positions to the incumbent regime.

No Party Affiliation Premiers

• John Foster McCreight (14 November 1871 to 23 December 1872)
• Amor De Cosmos (23 December 1872 to 9 February 1874)
• George Anthony Walkem (11 February 1874 to 29 January 1876) 1st Term
• Andrew Charles Elliott (1 February 1876 to 25 June 1878)
• George Anthony Walkem (25 June 1878 to 6 June 1882) 2nd Term
• Robert Beaven (13 June 1882 to 29 January 1883)
• William Smithe (29 January 1883 to 28 March 1887)
• Alexander Edmund Batson Davie (1 April 1887 to 1 August 1889)
• John Robson (2 August 1889 to 29 June 1892)
• Theodore Davie (2 July 1892 to 2 March 1895)
• John Herbert Turner (4 March 1895 to 8 August 1898)
• Charles Augustus Semlin (15 August 1898 to 27 February 1900)
• Joseph Martin (28 February 1900 to 14 June 1900)
• James Dunsmuir (15 June 1900 to 21 November 1902)
• Edward Gawler Prior (21 November 1902 to 1 June 1903)

British Columbia Progressive Conservative Party Premiers

• Richard McBride (1 June 1903 to 15 December 1915)
• William John Bowser (15 December 1915 to 23 November 1916)

British Columbia Liberal Party Premiers

• Harlan Carey Brewster (23 November 1916 to 1 March 1918)
• John Oliver (6 March 1918 to 17 August 1927)
• John Duncan MacLean (20 August 1927 to 20 August 1928)

British Columbia Progressive Conservative Party Premier

• Simon Fraser Tolmie (21 August 1928 to 15 November 1933)

British Columbia Liberal Party Premiers

• Thomas Dufferin Pattullo (15 November 1933 to 9 December 1941)
• John Hart (9 December 1941 to 29 December 1947)
• Boss Johnson (29 December 1947 to 1 August 1952)

British Columbia Social Credit Party Premier

• William Andrew Cecil Bennett (1 August 1952 to 15 September 1972)

British Columbia New Democratic Party Premier

• Dave Barrett (15 September 1972 to 22 December 1975)

British Columbia Social Credit Party Premiers

• Bill Bennett (22 December 1975 to 6 August 1986)
• Bill Vander Zam (6 August 1986 to 2 April 1991)
• Rita Johnston (2 April 1991 to 5 November 1991)

British Columbia New Democratic Party Premiers

• Mike Harcourt (5 November 1991 to 22 February 1996)
• Glen Clark (22 February 1996 to 25 August 1999)
• Dan Miller (25 August 1999 to 24 February 2000)
• Ujjal Dosanjh (24 February 2000 to 5 June 2001)

British Columbia Liberal Party Premiers

• Gordon Campbell (5 June 2001 to 14 March 2011)
• Christy Clark (14 March 2011 to 19 July 2017)

British Columbia New Democratic Party Premiers

• John Horgan (18 July 2017 to 18 November 2022)
• David Eby (18 November to present)