Background
Ott was born in Otepää and first appeared on the Soviet Channel One in 1986 as host of television Acquaintance show.
Ott was born in Otepää and first appeared on the Soviet Channel One in 1986 as host of television Acquaintance show.
He later worked on Russian Channel One and Estonian ETV, hosting "Urmas Ott and Others" on the latter channel. His style was intimate, usually facing the interviewee rather than the audience. He explained humorously that he appealed to Russian viewers because "I"m not one of them and I"m not foreign."
He lived in Tallinn and died on 17 October 2008 in Tartu from a heart attack after a bone marrow transplantation undertaken to remedy leukemia.