The qualification for the 2012 Men's Olympic Volleyball Tournament was held from 13 August 2011 to 10 June 2012.
| width=25% | Means of qualification | width=27% | Date! | width=20% | Host! | width=6% | Vacancies! | width=22% | Qualified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host Country | 1 | ||||||||
| 2011 World Cup | 20 November – 4 December 2011 | 3 | |||||||
| African Qualifier | 17–21 January 2012 |  Yaoundé | 1 | ||||||
| North American Qualifier | 7–12 May 2012 |  Long Beach | 1 | ||||||
| European Qualifier | 8–13 May 2012 | Sofia | 1 | ||||||
| South American Qualifier | 11–13 May 2012 |  Burzaco | 1 | ||||||
| 1st World Qualifier | 1–10 June 2012 |  Tokyo | 1 | ||||||
| Asian Qualifier | 1 | ||||||||
| 2nd World Qualifier | 8–10 June 2012 | Sofia | 1 | ||||||
| 3rd World Qualifier | 8–10 June 2012 | Berlin | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 12 | ||||||||
* The Asian Qualifier was combined with the 1st World Qualifier. The first place team of the tournament qualified as the 1st World Qualifier winners, while the best Asian team except the 1st World Qualifier winners qualified as the Asian Qualifier winners.
| width=10px bgcolor=#ccffcc | Qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics |
FIVB reserved a vacancy for the 2012 Summer Olympics host country to participate in the tournament.
See main article: 2011 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup.
The 2012 Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament combined with 2012 1st World Olympic Qualification Tournament. The hosts Japan and the top four ranked teams except Japan from the 2011 Asian Championship competed in the tournament. The top ranked among the five teams except the 2012 1st World Olympic Qualification Tournament winners qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics as the 2012 Asian Olympic Qualification Tournament winners.
See main article: Volleyball at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's European qualification.
See main article: Volleyball at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's North American qualification.
* The top four teams from 2011 Asian Championship were predetermined to be in 1st tournament in Japan.
– Italy, which were previously announced as hosts of 2nd tournament, won the 2020 European Olympic Qualification Tournament and secured a direct berth. replaced Italy as hosts.[2]