The effect of heat treatment at various temperatures (650, 850, 1050, and 1100°C) and dwell times (10 min and 1 h) on the metallurgical and microstructural evolution as well as on the related tensile properties of stainless steel 316L processed by selective laser melting (SLM) has been systematically evaluated. The metallurgical and microstructural features such as defects, stability of the columnar–cellular structure and substructure, second phase particles, and phase transformation imparted by SLM and heat treatment have been discussed. It has been shown that the processing conditions specific to SLM significantly alter the kinetics of phase evolution compared to standard welding techniques which affects the accuracy of the prediction. The influence of these characteristics on tensile properties and hardness was elucidated. It was disclosed that with increasing heat treatment temperature there was a gradual increase in elongation but a decrease in strength related to the dislocation density and the development of the microstructure.