In serves he graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1904 and obtained his MSc from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1909.
[1][4] In 1915 Otterson joined the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, where he worked his way up from general manufacturing superintendent[5] to vice-president, president and director in 1922.
In World War I he also served at the United States Council of National Defense as a member of the Munitions Standards Board.
From middle 1942 to early 1943 he was president of the New Jersey Shipbuilding Corporation, built landing craft and tankers, and chaired of the American Maritime Council.
After World War II he served as president of the East Coast Shipyards, Inc., and was on the board of the Anigraphic Process, Inc., and the Naumo Corporation.