OpenMP is a tool for parallel programming using shared memory multiprocessing. It allows users to split their program into threads that can run simultaneously on multiple processors. OpenMP uses compiler directives to indicate which parts of a program should be run in parallel. It is simple to use as it does not require extensive code changes, and works across platforms supporting C, C++, and Fortran. An experiment showed a sequential program taking 3347.68 ms to run versus 983.576 ms when parallelized using OpenMP, demonstrating its ability to speed up programs by distributing work across multiple threads and processors.