In the CNS, oligodendrocytes act as the myelinating cells. Oligodendrocytes have been identified to be key players in several neurodegenerative disorders. This protocol describes a robust, fast and reproducible differentiation protocol to generate human oligodendrocytes from pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) using a chemically defined, growth factor-rich medium. Within 8 d, PSCs differentiate into paired box 6-positive (PAX6(+)) neural stem cells, which give rise to OLIG2(+) progenitors by day 12. Oligodendrocyte lineage transcription factor 2-positive (OLIG2(+)) cells begin to express the transcription factor NKX2.2 around day 18, followed by SRY-box 10 (SOX10) around day 40. Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) that are positive for the cell surface antigen recognized by the O4 antibody (O4(+)) appear around day 50 and reach, on average, 43% of the cell population after 75 d of differentiation. O4(+) OPCs can be isolated by cell sorting for myelination studies, or they can be terminally differentiated to myelin basic protein-positive (MBP(+)) oligodendrocytes. This protocol also describes an alternative strategy for markedly reducing the length and the costs of the differentiation and generating ∼30% O4(+) cells after only 55 d of culture.