An optical head for near-field recording and reproduction, and a method of manufacturing the optical head. A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) and a photodetector are formed on a slider, and a lens layer, an optical path control layer and/or a coil member are directly formed over the VCSEL and the photodetector by thin film deposition. Combining the optical system for information recording and reproduction with the slider reduces the size of the optical head compared with an optical head adopting a slider and a large optical system which are separated from each other. As a result, dynamic characteristics of the optical head improve, thereby reducing the time required for searching for a target track. Thus, the optical head is suitable for a micro information recording and reproducing system.