Born in Johannesburg, Opperman started studying law in 1979 at the University of Pretoria[1] but soon lost interest and joined the South African Defence Force in 1980, where he played in an army marching band.
The following two years he worked for PACT (Performing Arts Council Transvaal) and acted in productions such as Spring awakening and Caspar in my tuin.
He also acted alongside fellow South African actor Arnold Vosloo in a full-length feature film called Boetie gaan border toe, but gained popularity in an Afrikaans sitcom called Orkney Snork Nie, created by Willie Esterhuizen, playing the character named Ouboet van Tonder.
In the 1990s, he starred in a South African television drama series The Big Time as Chris Karedes, a Cypriot emigrant.
[3] After twelve years, he returned to the theatre, starring in Die Uwe Pottie Potgieter, a one-man show written for him by Dana Snyman.