Oswald Jean-Baptiste Michel Augustin Bouteille was born on 13 November 1825 in Manosque, Basses-Alpes (now called Alpes-de-Haute-Provence).

During the Second French Empire he was appointed mayor of Manosque and was elected to the Basses-Alpes General Council, where he was vice-president.

[2] On 5 March 1876 Bouteille was elected Deputy of Basses-Alpes for the Forcalquier constituency by 4,339 votes against 4,329 for his Conservative opponent, M. de Salve.

He voted with the Opportunist Republicans, votes against invalidating the deputies of the right, for Article 7, for application of the existing laws of congregations, for the partial amnesty, for invalidation of the elections of Louis Auguste Blanqui and for divorce.

He supported the policy of Jules Ferry, approved the Tonkin Campaign and rejected repeal of the Concordat of 1801.