Ohman worked as a political aide for the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) during his high school years in Minnesota. At age 17, Ohman worked at the "Minnesota Daily", the student newspaper of the University of Minnesota. At age 19, Ohman was the youngest cartoonist ever to be nationally syndicated. His first daily newspaper job was at "The Columbus Dispatch", where he was hired in 1981. He then moved to the "Detroit Free Press" in 1982 and went to "The Oregonian" in 1983.