Ott began to paint from photographs while still in college in the middle to late 1960's. While citing Pop Artists such as James Rosenquist, Larry Rivers, and Richard Linder as strong influences, it wasn't until being introduced to the work of German artist, Paul Wunderlich that Ott began to work on a body of figurative work painted directly from photographs. Throughout the 70s and 80s his work was shown in major exhibitions with a group of artists that were to become known as Photorealists, while also being exhibited as a major figurative painter.