An office chair, or desk chair, is a type of chair

Chair

A chair is a stable, raised surface used to sit on, commonly for use by one person. Chairs are most often supported by four legs and have a back; however, a chair can have three legs or could have a different shape depending on the criteria of the chair specifications. A chair without a back or...

 that is designed for use at a desk in an office. It should be comfortable and adjustable and can swivel 360 degrees.
One the earliest known innovators to have created the modern office chair was naturalist Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...

, who put wheels on the chair in his study so he could get to his specimens more quickly.

With the advent of rail transport

Rail transport

Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...

 in the mid-19th century, businesses began to expand beyond the traditional model of a family business with little emphasis on administration.