Ou Wei was born Huang Huang-chi (黃煌基) in present-day Xinhua District, Tainan, on 16 September 1937.
Huang made his Hokkien film debut in 1957, and took his stage name, Ou Wei, from the character he portrayed in Green Mountain Bloodshed, a historical drama about the rebellion of a tribe of Taiwanese aborigines against Japanese rule.
While Ou Wei served in the Republic of China Air Force from 1958 to 1961, Ho Chi-ming had closed his film studio in 1959.
Five years later, Ou Wei appeared in the first film made by Tachung Motion Picture Company, a studio founded by former CMPC director Lee Hsing.
He wrote a number of screenplays, and released his final work, The Big Raid, in which he was writer, producer, actor, and director, in 1973.