Yamaoka was born in Edo (present-day Tokyo) as Ono Tetsutaro, where his father was a retainer of the Tokugawa shogunate and his mother was the daughter of a Shinto priest from Kashima Shrine.

After that he learned Hokushin Ittō-ryū from Inoue Hachirō, who was asked by Yamaoka Tesshū's father to teach his son.

From an early age, Yamaoka showed dedication and talent in the practice of martial arts.

After the Meiji Restoration, he became an official of the Shizuoka Domain, followed by a posting as governor of the short-lived Imari Prefecture.

Although he lived well after the "Golden Age of Zen", Yamaoka appears in a handful of modern kōan.