diff --git a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol/CHANGELOG.md b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol/CHANGELOG.md
index d42846d6996..c464714f603 100644
--- a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+* The `OtlpExporterOptions` defaults can be overridden using
+  `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT`, `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS` and `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TIMEOUT`
+  envionmental variables as defined in the
+  [specification](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/blob/main/specification/protocol/exporter.md).
+  ([#2188](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-dotnet/pull/2188))
+
 ## 1.2.0-alpha1
 
 Released 2021-Jul-23
diff --git a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol/Implementation/OpenTelemetryProtocolExporterEventSource.cs b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol/Implementation/OpenTelemetryProtocolExporterEventSource.cs
index 27d4ec3de9e..1824c82fb69 100644
--- a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol/Implementation/OpenTelemetryProtocolExporterEventSource.cs
+++ b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol/Implementation/OpenTelemetryProtocolExporterEventSource.cs
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 using System;
 using System.Diagnostics.Tracing;
+using System.Security;
 using OpenTelemetry.Internal;
 
 namespace OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol.Implementation
@@ -25,6 +26,15 @@ internal class OpenTelemetryProtocolExporterEventSource : EventSource
     {
         public static readonly OpenTelemetryProtocolExporterEventSource Log = new OpenTelemetryProtocolExporterEventSource();
 
+        [NonEvent]
+        public void MissingPermissionsToReadEnvironmentVariable(SecurityException ex)
+        {
+            if (this.IsEnabled(EventLevel.Warning, EventKeywords.All))
+            {
+                this.MissingPermissionsToReadEnvironmentVariable(ex.ToInvariantString());
+            }
+        }
+
         [NonEvent]
         public void FailedToConvertToProtoDefinitionError(Exception ex)
         {
@@ -81,5 +91,17 @@ public void CouldNotTranslateMetric(string className, string methodName)
         {
             this.WriteEvent(5, className, methodName);
         }
+
+        [Event(6, Message = "Failed to parse environment variable: '{0}', value: '{1}'.", Level = EventLevel.Warning)]
+        public void FailedToParseEnvironmentVariable(string name, string value)
+        {
+            this.WriteEvent(6, name, value);
+        }
+
+        [Event(7, Message = "Missing permissions to read environment variable: '{0}'", Level = EventLevel.Warning)]
+        public void MissingPermissionsToReadEnvironmentVariable(string exception)
+        {
+            this.WriteEvent(7, exception);
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol/OtlpExporterOptions.cs b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol/OtlpExporterOptions.cs
index 7102bab456c..f112e76a773 100644
--- a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol/OtlpExporterOptions.cs
+++ b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol/OtlpExporterOptions.cs
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 
 using System;
 using System.Diagnostics;
+using System.Security;
+using OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol.Implementation;
 
 namespace OpenTelemetry.Exporter
 {
@@ -24,6 +26,57 @@ namespace OpenTelemetry.Exporter
     /// </summary>
     public class OtlpExporterOptions
     {
+        internal const string EndpointEnvVarName = "OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT";
+        internal const string HeadersEnvVarName = "OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS";
+        internal const string TimeoutEnvVarName = "OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TIMEOUT";
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="OtlpExporterOptions"/> class.
+        /// </summary>
+        public OtlpExporterOptions()
+        {
+            try
+            {
+                string endpointEnvVar = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable(EndpointEnvVarName);
+                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(endpointEnvVar))
+                {
+                    if (Uri.TryCreate(endpointEnvVar, UriKind.Absolute, out var endpoint))
+                    {
+                        this.Endpoint = endpoint;
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        OpenTelemetryProtocolExporterEventSource.Log.FailedToParseEnvironmentVariable(EndpointEnvVarName, endpointEnvVar);
+                    }
+                }
+
+                string headersEnvVar = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable(HeadersEnvVarName);
+                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(headersEnvVar))
+                {
+                    this.Headers = headersEnvVar;
+                }
+
+                string timeoutEnvVar = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable(TimeoutEnvVarName);
+                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(timeoutEnvVar))
+                {
+                    if (int.TryParse(timeoutEnvVar, out var timeout))
+                    {
+                        this.TimeoutMilliseconds = timeout;
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        OpenTelemetryProtocolExporterEventSource.Log.FailedToParseEnvironmentVariable(TimeoutEnvVarName, timeoutEnvVar);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            catch (SecurityException ex)
+            {
+                // The caller does not have the required permission to
+                // retrieve the value of an environment variable from the current process.
+                OpenTelemetryProtocolExporterEventSource.Log.MissingPermissionsToReadEnvironmentVariable(ex);
+            }
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets or sets the target to which the exporter is going to send traces.
         /// Must be a valid Uri with scheme (http) and host, and
diff --git a/test/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol.Tests/OtlpExporterOptionsTests.cs b/test/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol.Tests/OtlpExporterOptionsTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d7a698a0d6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol.Tests/OtlpExporterOptionsTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+// <copyright file="OtlpExporterOptionsTests.cs" company="OpenTelemetry Authors">
+// Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+// </copyright>
+
+using System;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol.Tests
+{
+    public class OtlpExporterOptionsTests : IDisposable
+    {
+        public OtlpExporterOptionsTests()
+        {
+            ClearEnvVars();
+        }
+
+        public void Dispose()
+        {
+            ClearEnvVars();
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void OtlpExporterOptions_Defaults()
+        {
+            var options = new OtlpExporterOptions();
+
+            Assert.Equal(new Uri("http://localhost:4317"), options.Endpoint);
+            Assert.Null(options.Headers);
+            Assert.Equal(10000, options.TimeoutMilliseconds);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void OtlpExporterOptions_EnvironmentVariableOverride()
+        {
+            Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(OtlpExporterOptions.EndpointEnvVarName, "http://test:8888");
+            Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(OtlpExporterOptions.HeadersEnvVarName, "A=2,B=3");
+            Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(OtlpExporterOptions.TimeoutEnvVarName, "2000");
+
+            var options = new OtlpExporterOptions();
+
+            Assert.Equal(new Uri("http://test:8888"), options.Endpoint);
+            Assert.Equal("A=2,B=3", options.Headers);
+            Assert.Equal(2000, options.TimeoutMilliseconds);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void OtlpExporterOptions_InvalidEndpointVariableOverride()
+        {
+            Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(OtlpExporterOptions.EndpointEnvVarName, "invalid");
+
+            var options = new OtlpExporterOptions();
+
+            Assert.Equal(new Uri("http://localhost:4317"), options.Endpoint); // use default
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void OtlpExporterOptions_InvalidTimeoutVariableOverride()
+        {
+            Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(OtlpExporterOptions.TimeoutEnvVarName, "invalid");
+
+            var options = new OtlpExporterOptions();
+
+            Assert.Equal(10000, options.TimeoutMilliseconds); // use default
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void OtlpExporterOptions_SetterOverridesEnvironmentVariable()
+        {
+            Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(OtlpExporterOptions.EndpointEnvVarName, "http://test:8888");
+            Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(OtlpExporterOptions.HeadersEnvVarName, "A=2,B=3");
+            Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(OtlpExporterOptions.TimeoutEnvVarName, "2000");
+
+            var options = new OtlpExporterOptions
+            {
+                Endpoint = new Uri("http://localhost:200"),
+                Headers = "C=3",
+                TimeoutMilliseconds = 40000,
+            };
+
+            Assert.Equal(new Uri("http://localhost:200"), options.Endpoint);
+            Assert.Equal("C=3", options.Headers);
+            Assert.Equal(40000, options.TimeoutMilliseconds);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void OtlpExporterOptions_EnvironmentVariableNames()
+        {
+            Assert.Equal("OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT", OtlpExporterOptions.EndpointEnvVarName);
+            Assert.Equal("OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS", OtlpExporterOptions.HeadersEnvVarName);
+            Assert.Equal("OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TIMEOUT", OtlpExporterOptions.TimeoutEnvVarName);
+        }
+
+        private static void ClearEnvVars()
+        {
+            Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(OtlpExporterOptions.EndpointEnvVarName, null);
+            Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(OtlpExporterOptions.HeadersEnvVarName, null);
+            Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(OtlpExporterOptions.TimeoutEnvVarName, null);
+        }
+    }
+}