Richard Lawrence Ottinger (born January 27, 1929) is an American retired legal educator and politician from New York.

He was one of the founders and the second staff member of the Peace Corps, serving as director of programs for the west coast of South America from 1961 to 1964.

Most prominently, Ottinger's mother, Louise, and sister, Patricia Heath, had set up 22 different committees that in turn donated $6,000 apiece to his campaign.

[4] In 1972, he sought to return to his old congressional seat, but lost in a hotly contested election to the Republican incumbent Representative Peter A. Peyser.

He bolstered his reputation as a leading legislator by founding the bipartisan Environmental Study Conference (ESC) in the House of Representatives in 1975, which grew to a membership of over 150 Members in less than a year.