Born in 1658 (Manji 1) as the second son of 'Karigane-ya,' a high-class kimono merchant in Kyoto. His father Sokken was a cultured man related to Hon'ami Koetsu; from childhood Korin was raised in a first-rate cultural environment. He and his younger brother Ogata Kenzan continued the family business, but due to his flamboyant tastes and dissipation he soon used up his great inheritance. From the end of his thirties he began to devote himself to painting, studying the Kano and Tosa schools while researching the decorative style established by Koetsu and Sotatsu, and established the 'Korin style' as its original development. In 1701, aged 43, he received the rank of Hokkyo. Around 1704 he went down to Edo and was patronized by daimyo and wealthy merchants. After about five years in Edo, he returned to Kyoto around age 52, and in his late Kyoto period produced monumental masterpieces such as 'Red and White Plum Blossoms' (National Treasure, MOA Museum of Art) and 'Eight-Plank Bridge Lacquered Inkstone Box' (National Treasure, Tokyo National Museum). In June 1716 he died in Kyoto at 59.

As the young master of a wealthy Kyoto merchant house he enjoyed a cultured upbringing, but he had a free and unrestrained nature, indulging in pleasure to the point of exhausting his inheritance. On the other hand, his artistic intuition was keen, and he displayed outstanding sensibility across many genres — painting, maki-e lacquer, dyeing and weaving, ceramics (co-made with his brother Kenzan).

Korin is the master of the 'Rimpa' lineage that runs from Hon'ami Koetsu through Tawaraya Sotatsu, Ogata Korin, and Sakai Hoitsu. Rimpa was called the 'Korin school' and was carried on by Hoitsu, Suzuki Kiitsu, and others until the end of the Edo period. Its decorative style also influenced Art Nouveau. His representative works 'Irises' (Nezu Museum), 'Red and White Plum Blossoms' (MOA Museum), and 'Wind and Thunder Gods' (copy, Tokyo National Museum) are all National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties.