[2] Ozerov's father was an acclaimed opera singer who was awarded the title People's Artist of the Russian SFSR in 1937 and taught in the Moscow Conservatory.

After graduating from high school, Ozerov enrolled for the Lunacharsky State Institute of Theatre Arts in September 1939.

[4] In a 2001 interview, he told that the battle had a profound effect on him and he swore that if he will remain alive, he would "tell the story of the great army that fought in the war.

In 1947, he entered the All-Union Cinematography Institute, where he studied together with Aleksandr Alov, Marlen Khutsiev, Sergei Parajanov and other future Soviet directors.

During 1953, together with Sergei Gurov, he co-directed Arena of the Bold, which presented a live performance by the Soviet Union's young circus artists and starred Oleg Popov, among others.

In the same year, Ozerov first participated in an international production: the Albanian-Soviet film Fortuna, which he co-directed with Kristaq Dhamo.

In 1962, he directed the Soviet-Czechoslovak co-production The High Road, a biographical film on Jaroslav Hašek with Josef Abrhám as the main protagonist.

[9] During the mid-1960s, Ozerov - who was awarded the title 'Honored Artist of the RSFSR' in 1965 - was dismayed by several World War II films made in the West, which he regarded as diminishing the role of the Red Army.

Ozerov had to cope both the tight political supervision of the Soviet establishment and with the technical difficulties of coordinating the battle scenes, that involved 150 tanks and thousands of soldiers.

[7] In 1977, Ozerov directed the ten-hour-long mini-series Soldiers of Freedom, theatrically released as two 220 minutes feature films, a co-production that involved most of the Eastern Bloc European countries and dealt with the exploits of their contemporary leaders, especially Leonid Brezhnev, during the Second World War.

[7] In 1985, Ozerov directed another large-scale World War II production, the Battle of Moscow, released for the 40th Anniversary of Victory Day.

[4] In 1993, the director used footage from Stalingrad in the film Angels of Death, that presented a sniper duel taking place during the battle for the city.

Selected material from all of Ozerov's works on World War II was compiled to create the historical mini-series Tragedy of the Century.