The youngest of nine children born to Michael and Síle O'Connor, he was educated locally at Caslagh national school before later attending Scoil Uí Chonaill in Cahersiveen.

After completing his secondary education O'Connor moved on to Maynooth College where he obtained a B.A, H.dip Ed in Spanish and Irish.

O'Connor remained on the teaching staff while also holding on to his position as coach of the school's football team.

In 1999 he guided the school to another set of county and provincial vocational titles while another All-Ireland final appearance beckoned.

In 2000 Coláiste na Sceilge made history when they retained their county, Munster and All-Ireland vocational titles.

Coláiste na Sceilge won three consecutive Corn Uí Mhuirí titles in 2001, 2002 and 2003, however, the team fell in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final on all three occasions.

After a prolonged absence O'Connor guided his school team to a fourth Corn Uí Mhuirí title in 2009.

O'Connor considered resigning after Kerry's 2006 victory, although county board chairman Seán Walsh wanted him to stay on.

[2] O'Connor finally stepped down, along with his backroom staff (selectors Ger O'Keeffe and Johnny Culloty and trainer Pat Flanagan) on 16 October 2006.

Kerry's county chairman Seán Walsh was disappointed by the final decision but made a point of acknowledging O'Connor's successes as manager.

Few managers have achieved his successes in such a short period of time; two all-Irelands, two Munster Championships and two National League Division One titles.

On 26 April 2009, he managed Kerry to win the Allianz NFL Division 1 title, beating Derry 1–15 to 0–15 in the final at Croke Park.

[6] Despite being written off by many of the games experts O'Connor's men proved their worth first with a stunning quarter-final victory over Dublin and from that point on never looked back and went on to beat Meath in the semi-final before claiming the title against Cork.

On 31 August 2013, O'Connor was appointed as Kerry minor manager taking over from Mickey Ned O'Sullivan on a two-year term.