Ogyen Trinley Rinpoche was born Apo Gaga in 1985 in Lhatok Township, Chamdo County, Tibet Autonomous Region, to nomadic parents.

[1] The 14th Dalai Lama issued an official statement of recognition and confirmation of the 16th Karmapa's reincarnation as Ogyen Trinley Dorje, on 30 June 1992.

A year later, the Chinese announced during the UN World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna they would train him in Tsurphu for his future task as the successor of the Dalai Lama.

[4] In 1999, at the age of 14, the Karmapa escaped Chinese-controlled Tibet during the winter, traveling to India through Nepal,[5] arriving at the Tibetan exile quarters at McLeod Ganj on 5 January 2000.

Ogyen Trinley Dorje stated he was unable to obtain in China the specialized instruction he needed to complete his studies and to realize his full spiritual authority.

Adarsha, for example, makes the Kangyur, Tengyur, and Tibetan masterpieces available in digital format and has been catalogued under the guidance of Ogyen Trinley Dorje.

108 Translations was initiated in 2015 by Ogyen Trinley Dorje in order to produce a needed body of reading material that can promote the reinvigoration of Tibetan language.

[24] Ogyen Trinley Dorje has taken an interest in the welfare of the female Buddhist community, and encouraged equal rights and opportunities for women practitioners.

[33] In recent years, Khoryug, a network of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and centers that work on environmental protection in the Eastern Himalayas, was developed under the auspices of Ogyen Trinley Dorje as part of the World Wildlife Fund's Sacred Earth: Faiths for Conservation program.

[46] In January 2011, the Himachal Pradesh Police seized money in currencies of 24 countries including China, valued at over ₹ 60 million, during raids on the offices of a trust backed by Ogyen Trinley Dorje.

[49] Himachal Pradesh Police said even if the Karmapa was able to explain the source of the money recovered, he might be held liable for violating the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act.

[51][52] A New York Times report on the matter noted an unnamed rival Karmapa candidate has "close ties to Indian intelligence officials".

[55] In December 2011, the Himachal Pradesh Police filed a chargesheet against Ogyen Trinley Dorje, naming him as an accused in the cash and foreign currency seizure case.

[58] However, in 2015 a judge at the Himachal Pradesh High Court overturned the earlier ruling and began criminal proceedings over the recovery of around US$1 million of foreign currency.

[61] A representative of the Supreme Court was reported to have said of the case "Can a secret relationship that began online and never moved into the physical world be like a marriage?