Ozon was born in Paris, France. Having studied directing at the French film school La Fémis, Ozon made several short films such as A Summer Dress (Une robe d'été, 1996) and Scènes de lit (1998). His motion picture directing debut was Sitcom (also 1998), which was well received by both critics and audiences.
After the Fassbinder adaptation Water Drops on Burning Rocks (Gouttes d'eau sur pierres brûlantes, 2000) came the film which made his name outside France, 8 Women (8 femmes, 2002), starring Catherine Deneuve, Fanny Ardant, Isabelle Huppert and Emmanuelle Béart. With its quirky mix of musical numbers and murder mystery and a production design harking back to 1950s Hollywood melodramas such as those directed by Douglas Sirk, the film became a huge commercial success.
In 2003, Swimming Pool, starring Charlotte Rampling and Ludivine Sagnier, was released. Ozon considered it a very personal film that gives insight into the difficult process of writing a novel or screenplay.
In 2004, he directed the film 5x2. His next film, Time to Leave (Le temps qui reste) (which one critic said explored the question "how does a frivolous person deal with his own mortality?") screened at film festivals worldwide in 2005, and in 2006 it was distributed in the U.S.
Ozon's first full English-language production, Angel, starring Romola Garai, was released in 2007. The film, based on a novel by British writer Elizabeth Taylor, follows the story of a poor girl who climbs Edwardian England's social ladder by becoming a romance writer. The film was shot at Tyntesfield House and Estate near Bristol, at other UK locations and in Belgium. While filming Angel, Ozon developed a strong friendship with Garai and called her his "muse".
His film The Refuge had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2009.
Ozon was on the jury for the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival, held in February 2012.
His 2013 film Young & Beautiful (Jeune & Jolie) was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Ozon was voted best screenwriter at the 2013 European Film Awards for his 2012 film In the House.
His 2014 film The New Girlfriend premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2014.
His film Peter von Kant, a gender-flipped reinterpretation of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1972 film The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, premiered at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival.
