[1] Ootes was born in the Schagen, Netherlands in 1942 [2] and moved with his family to Canada in 1952 and lived in Renfrew, Ontario.
Ootes worked as reporters in newspapers in Ontario and then moved into the federal civil service in the 1960s.
In 1967 Ootes became an Executive Assistant for Northwest Territories Commissioner Stuart Milton Hodgson.
Ootes left his position in the Commissioners office to buy a newspaper in 1975, he grew a small publishing business.
He won his second term in office with 60% of the vote in the 1999 Northwest Territories general election.