He played Gaelic football with his local club Clonakilty and was a member of the Cork senior inter-county team from 1943 until 1949.
[1] O'Donovan first came to Gaelic football prominence with the Carbery Rangers team that won consecutive Southwest Junior Championship titles.
O'Donovan subsequently transferred to the Clonakilty club that was enjoying a golden age in terms of success and won six County Championship titles in ten years.
O'Donovan won a second provincial title two years later before ending the season by lining out at midfield when Cork claimed the All-Ireland title after a defeat of Cavan in the final.
O'Donovan died at St Anne's Hospital in Skibbereen on 17 October 1995.