In 2011 he completed his PhD, with a dissertation entitled 'Union citizenship, social rights and the Marshallian approach', at Trinity College Dublin.

[1] O'Gorman's first engagement with green politics came at the age of 10 years when he canvassed on behalf of his local councillor Trevor Sargent, in his successful bid at the 1992 general election.

[14] Following his appointment as Minister for Children, O'Gorman was criticised on social media for a tweet containing a photo of himself and Peter Tatchell under the heading "Happy Pride .

Newstalk presenter Ciara Kelly,[15] and actor John Connors both pressed Tatchell for his current views on the issues.

[16][17] O'Gorman issued a public statement via Twitter clarifying his own position and his opposition to paedophilia, and that he had been unaware of Tatchell's past remarks.

[23] In February 2021 O'Gorman oversaw the publishing of a white paper outlining the government's plan to abolish direct provision and replace it with a new system to be fully implemented by the end of 2024.

Under the new system, those claiming asylum in Ireland will initially be housed in one of six state-owned Reception and Integration Centres with own-door or own-room accommodation.

[31] In March 2023, O'Gorman stated on RTÉ's The Week in Politics that he was being subjected daily to online abuse, and that his team must remove comments alleging that he is a paedophile and child groomer from his social media accounts.

I'm also aware that right now online and in various public fora, a lot of people who are gay or advocating on LGBT+ issues are facing vicious abuse.

before stating that unnamed parties were accusing O'Gorman of engaging "in a sort of ideology-based parochialism, prioritising pet projects which fall under your Government's remit over others".

O'Gorman accused Keogan of "peddling lies" and "in doing so, although always implied, always unspoken, the charge rests that I as a gay politician must be up to no good in an effort to benefit my own community.

[34][35] Following the resignation of Eamon Ryan as leader of the Green Party in June 2024, O'Gorman stood as a candidate in the leadership election to succeed him.