Ozols was born in Latvia in 1941. He moved to the USA with his family in 1950. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Trenton School of Indurstrial Arts.
Inspired by the model of Thomas Eakins and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Ozols founded the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts in 1978 to gather together artists and aspiring artists and teach Classical techniques, stressing working from life. As of this date, he remains there as both the Director and an instructor.
Ozols' work is well regarded by fellow painters. He is noted for being fluent with a wide repertory of artistic techniques and styles seldom mastered by a single individual.