Ozoliņš, who was born in Latvia, played hockey internationally for the Soviet Union until 1991. His first major international tournament was 1991 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, where he won a silver medal, losing in the gold medal game to Canada. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, he played under the new flag of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and won a gold medal at the 1992 World Junior Championships. During the tournament, the USSR was formally dissolved and the team was renamed as the Commonwealth of Independent States national junior team. Because Ozoliņš and Sergei Zholtok were from Latvia, which wasn't a member of the CIS, some other teams protested, but the protest was denied.