His grandfather, also named Sheikh Omar Faye, was an Islamic scholar who was involved in Gambian politics in the early days of the country.

He worked as a security supervisor and utility line locator in the United States until 2005, when he returned to the Gambia.

He was appointed as Minister of Youth, Sports and Religious Affairs in 2006, and remained in that post until 2007 when he was sent to Mauritania as the deputy chief of mission at the Gambian embassy there.

He formally became the chargé d'affaires on 1 April 2014, and officially became the ambassador after presenting his credentials to President Barack Obama on 3 August 2015.

[9] The appointment was made as part of a broader cabinet reshuffling announced via press release from the Office of the President on August 22, 2019.