He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Caribbean, in Puerto Rico, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1964.
He has three Doctorate Degrees Honoris Causa from the Theological Seminary of the Southwest, Austin, TX, The University of the South and Berkeley Divinity School at Yale.
At the time Ottley was the bishop, Panama was a diocese in Province 9 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.
In 2000, he became interim bishop of the Diocese of Honduras, serving until the consecration of Lloyd Allen.
He also served as Interim Bishop of the Diocese of Cuernavaca of the Anglican Church of Mexico.