Sir Geoffrey Mulcahy has quit the board of Kingfisher five months earlier than expected.
Sir Geoffrey stepped down as chief executive of the FTSE 100 firm in November but had been expected to remain on the board until April.
But the 60-year-old has now tendered his resignation with immediate effect, although he will continue to be employed for another five months.
Sir Geoffrey joined the company in 1982 and became chief executive in 1986 but his leadership attracted criticism in some quarters in recent months.
He announced earlier in the year his intention to step down as chief executive and was subsequently replaced by Carlton boss Gerry Murphy.
Although Mr Murphy does not start until February, Sir Geoffrey's role was filled on an interim basis by Kingfisher chairman Francis Mackay.
Sir Geoffrey said in October he was sad to be leaving the company before it had completed an overhaul involving the demerger of its electrical division.
The group, which has already spun off its Woolworths retail business, wants to focus on its DIY operations, including Castorama in France.
During Sir Geoffrey's time at Kingfisher he took the company's market value from £105 million in 1982 to £5.6 billion today. It has annual turnover of £9.6 billion from more than 1,400 outlets in 17 countries.
PA