Ogilby was born in Connecticut and received an undergraduate degree from Hamilton College.

After discharge, he attended Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, graduating in 1949.

[1] Upon being ordained a deacon in 1949 and priest in 1950, Ogilby's ministry began at the Brent School in the Philippines, where he served as chaplain as well as teacher.

He ordained Philadelphia native Barbara C. Harris (who had participated in that service as an acolyte), as a deacon in 1979 and a priest in 1980, and later participated in her (again controversial) consecration as bishop suffragan in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts whereby she became the first woman consecrated as a bishop in the Anglican Communion.

[6][7] Bishop Ogilby's episcopate continued after his somewhat early retirement, despite ongoing health issues.