The son of Ralph Ouseley by his second wife Mary Collins, Joseph was educated in Limerick.
[1][2] He joined the British Army as an ensign in 1819, in which he reached the rank of colonel by the time that he retired.
[3] After being posted to the Bengal European Regiment in India, he became a military attaché in oriental languages, having tutored himself during the sea voyage from home in 1820 and then having attended the College of Fort William in Calcutta, from which he graduated with honours in Arabic and Persian in 1822.
[4] He became a professor of Arabic, Bengali, Marathi, and Persian at the College of Fort William in 1825, and was Superintendent of the Mysore Princes from 1838 to 1844.
[2][1] The Joseph Walker Jasper Ouseley scholarships to the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, intended to fund the studies of Arabic, Persian, Hindustani, and other languages, were endowed in his name by his daughters Mary and Louisa Ouseley.