[2] Ono was born in the city of Tenryū (present-day Hamamatsu) in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan.

[3] He started working at a local restaurant from the age of seven, before moving to Tokyo to study as an apprentice.

[3] He became a qualified sushi chef in 1951, and in 1965 opened his own restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro (すきやばし次郎), in Ginza, Tokyo.

[a][3] Ono has served former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and United States President Barack Obama at Sukiyabashi Jiro.

[6][7] As of 2023, Ono has stepped away from day-to-day management of Sukiyabashi Jiro due to ill health and Yoshikazu now primarily runs the restaurant.