Jon Otis was born in 1957. Otis studied English, journalism, and art history at Moravian College in Pennsylvania, where he earned a B.A. in 1979. He earned a M.S. in interior design and architecture studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1985.

In 1985, Otis was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to Milan, Italy, where he worked with the industrial designers DePas, d’Urbino, and Lomazzi, designing furniture, lighting, and exhibitions. From 1986 to 1988, he worked as a designer for Ettore Sottsass at Sottsas Associati. After returning to New York, he worked as a studio director with Mancini Duffy. In 1991, Otis formed The Moderns design studio in New York, where he was partner in charge of interior architecture and product design.

Otis is now the principal and creative director of Object, Inc., which he founded in New York in 1999. Object, Inc. consults in the areas of exhibition design, interactive architecture, interior architecture, furniture and product design, and retail/brand/communication strategy and design. Clients include Artemide, Maharam Textiles, Inc., Tandus Flooring, ICF Group, George Nakashima Woodworker, Scotts Inc., and Tuva Looms.

Otis is currently on the Design faculty at Pratt Institute and teaches courses at the New York School of Interior Design and Vitra Design Museum’s summer workshop at Boisbouchet in Lessac, France. In 2009, Otis was recognized as one of the Design Intelligence Journal’s most admired design educators.