This review summarizes recent developments in the area of liquid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy of the 17 O nucleus. It is structured in Sections, respectively covering (a) general background information, with special emphasis on spin relaxation phenomena for quadrupolar nuclei and in paramagnetic environments, (b) methods for the calculation of 17 O NMR parameters, with illustrative results, (c) applications in chemistry and materials science, (d) application to biomolecules and biological systems, (e) relaxation phenomena, including contrast agents for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The 17 O nucleus emerges as a very sensitive probe of the local environment ─ including both bonding and non-bonding interactions ─ and molecular motions.