Neeraj Pandey first conceptualised the idea for the series in late 2010, initially pitching it to Star India's head Gaurav Bannerjee for a premiere on Star Plus, but the project never materialised at the time. He revived it in August 2019 under his new digital production division, Friday Storytellers.

The show was developed as an eight-hour story inspired by nineteen years' worth of events of national significance, written by Neeraj Pandey along with Deepak Kingrani and Benazir Ali Fida.

Kay Kay Menon was offered the lead role of Himmat Singh on 6 August 2019, with the rest of the cast and crew finalised that same month.

Principal photography began in mid-August 2019, with Shivam Nair directing most of the India-set portions while Neeraj Pandey handled the remaining sequences, alternating as episode directors.

The production recreated the Parliament of India to film scenes depicting the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, marking the first time this event had been dealt with in film history.

Besides India, the series was filmed in Turkey, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan; Pandey explained that shooting in Delhi would have been costlier due to the need for elaborate sets and visual effects, making international locations more practical.

Each episode of Season 1 was titled as a tribute to a classic Bollywood film, including Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), Guide (1965), Mughal-e-Azam (1960), Hum Kisise Kum Naheen (1977), Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), Qurbani (1980), Shatranj ke Khiladi (1977) and Sholay (1975).

The series premiered on Hotstar on 17 March 2020 in seven Indian languages simultaneously (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Malayalam, Marathi and Kannada), with Hotstar releasing the first episode a day earlier than the announced date, on 16 March 2020.

Special Ops received eight nominations at the inaugural Filmfare OTT Awards, winning three of them.

The franchise expanded with a prequel, Special Ops 1.5: The Himmat Story, a four-episode series exploring Himmat Singh's backstory, released on 12 November 2021, followed by Season 2 on 18 July 2025.