Otieno was born at Nyalgunga, Nyamila village, Siaya, in Nyanza Province of western Kenya, the seventh of twelve children in a Luo family.
He re-established a private legal practice in Nairobi in 1968 and from then until his death in 1986, Otieno built a reputation as an outstanding criminal lawyer.
However, his burial became a cause célèbre in Kenya when his wife's plans were challenged by his brother, who was his closest adult-male blood relation and the Luo of the Umira Kager clan of Nyanza Province.
[5][6] Both husband and wife were highly educated Kenyans who had largely turned their backs on their ethnic identities and exemplified an emerging Kenyan bourgeoisie, whereas his brother was a railway foreman, closely associated with the Umira Kager clan.
[10] The judges concluded that the advocate for Mrs Otieno had failed to demonstrate that traditional Luo burial customs were opposed to justice or morality.