Osguthorpe has multiple degrees, including a Doctor of Philosophy from Brigham Young University (Brigham Young University), where he is a professor of Instructional Psychology and Technology. Osguthorpe also studied at the University of Utah.
He was the twentieth man to serve in this position. Osguthorpe is also the author of books on education. Osguthorpe has written Choose to Learn: Teaching for Success Every Day and Balancing the Tensions of Change.
He has also written materials on deaf education.
Osguthorpe was the lead author of Partner School: Centers for Educational Renewal. This book is often cited as one of the leading works on the subject.
4, p. 13-23. Osguthorpe was the director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Brigham Young University. He has also served as an associate dean of the David O. McKay School of Education at Brigham Young University. Since 1998, Osguthorpe has held the Martha Jane Knowlton Coray University Professorship at Brigham Young University. At the church"s April 2009 General Conference Osguthorpe was accepted by the membership as the general president of the church"s Sunday School, succeeding A. Roger Merrill.
Osguthorpe selected David M. McConkie and Matthew O. Richardson as his counselors. In the April 2014 General Conference, Osguthorpe and his counselors were released, with Tad R. Callister named to as his successor.
Later in 2014, Osguthorpe began an anticipated 3-year assignment as president of the church"s Bismarck North Dakota Temple.
He was previously a visiting faculty member at the University of Toronto, the University of Paris and a member of the faculty of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester, New New York
