Born in Livingston, Alabama and raised in Nacogdoches in the Republic of Texas, Ochiltree attended the public schools.

John G. Walker's company of Texas Rangers in the campaign against the Apache and Comanche Indians in 1854 and 1855.

He served as delegate to the Democratic National Conventions at Charleston, South Carolina, and Baltimore, Maryland, in 1860.

During the Civil War enlisted in the Confederate States Army in the First Texas Regiment and was promoted successively to lieutenant, captain, and major.

He was appointed United States marshal for the eastern district of Texas by President Grant January 8, 1874.