Born in Pergamino, orphan of his father, Ocampo started working at the age of ten as a baker and then made a large number of low-paid jobs, including dishwasher, waiter, shop assistant, street vendor and door-to-door salesman.

[1] In 1960, he moved to Buenos Aires, where he had his breakout in the television show Telecómicos, and later became active in revue theater and films.

[1] Specialized in slapstick and physical stunts, in the mid-1980s he also had a one-man-show, Las travesuras de Tristán.

[1] After over two decades of large popularity, starting from the late 1980s the physical comedy went progressively out-of-fashion in Argentina and Tristán focused his activities on stage.

[1] In 2015, his career had an unexpected relaunch from the villain role of "El coronel" in the TV drama series Historia de un clan, which got him a Martín Fierro Award for best supporting actor.