In 1771, aged six, he was sent to be educated by his uncle Dietrich Heinrich Ludwig von Ompteda (1746–1803) and in 1777 he joined the Royal Corps of Pages at Hannover.

In 1793 he rose to command a grenadier company in the French Revolutionary Wars, being badly wounded at Mont Cassel.

In 1812 he was made lieutenant colonel and in 1813 he was put in command of the Legion's 1st Light Battalion.

In 1815 he was an oberst and a brigade commander in general Charles Alten's division within Wellington's army.

Ompteda was killed at Waterloo after being ordered by the Prince of Orange into a counter-attack in column with the 5th Line Battalion to retake La Haye Sainte.