He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in Malaysia's previous governing Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

Othman was appointed as an Independent non-executive director for the KSK Group Berhad (previously known as Kurnia Asia Bhd) on 13 April 2004.

[4] When Fadzil Noor died in 2002, Othman stood as the Barisan Nasional candidate in the high-profile and closely fought by-election that followed.

PAS had held the seat since 2004, but had decided to replace its incumbent member with the party's high-profile deputy president, Mohamad Sabu.

Amid a swing to the Barisan Nasional across the state of Kedah, Othman won the seat by 2,638 votes, returning to Parliament for his third non-consecutive period in office.