He received his advanced degrees in anthropology at the University of New Mexico. He has conducted archaeological fieldwork in the Midwest, Southwest, and the Great Plains regions of North America as well as in the Andean countries of Peru and Ecuador. He has published a number of articles in the American Anthropologist, Current Anthropology, Journal of Anthropological Research, and the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. Dr. Osborn has also co-edited three books, book reviews, and archaeological reports. His research interests include Plains archaeology and anthropology, South American archaeology, maritime adaptations, human nutrition, and PaleoIndian adaptive responses to cold stress.