Corchorus olitorious L. is a leafy vegetable with antibacterial properties  useful in the treatment of numerous diseases and  having the potential to alleviate malnutrition. Despite the efficient role that varietal evaluation plays in breeding programmes to improve traits, C. olitorious is still under-researched. The objective of this study was to (i) characterize phenotypic variation in agronomic traits of germplasm collection of C. olitorious and (ii) identify superior accessions exhibiting desirable traits useful in a breeding programme for further improvement. The study examined 40 core collections of C. olitorious held at the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB), Ibadan, Nigeria. The experiment was laid out under field conditions in an 8×5 α-lattice design with three replicates over two years. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed. Combined analysis of variance revealed highly significant (P < 0.001) mean squares between accessions for all measured traits. This variability can be exploited when selecting for these traits and can also speed up the identification of outstanding Corchorus accessions. The shift in mean performance of some accessions from the mean of the 40 accessions suggests that these accessions are potential sources of favourable alleles that may be useful for C. olitorious improvement. The results of the principal component analysis revealed  discriminating features. The cluster patterns indicate intra-specific variability useful in selecting complementary parental lines. Accessions NGB00215, NGB00229, NGB00200, NGB00205, NGB00221, NGB00224, NGB00230 and NGB01261 were identified as outstanding in their performance with desirable traits. These accessions will be useful in future Corchorus breeding programmes.