Career
Born in Chicago, Ousley began playing in the late 1940s, and in the 1950s accompanied Billie Holiday and recorded with Dinah Washington. He played as a sideman with Gene Ammons in the 1950s and with Jack McDuff and George Benson in the 1960s. He released his first record as a leader in 1961.
In the 1970s he played with Lionel Hampton and Count Basie in addition to releasing further material as a leader.
After 1977 he did not release another album under his own name until Grit-Grittin" Feelin" (2000).