Ēriks Otto was born 1948 in England, where his parents fled to as refugees at the beginning of World War II. He attended English school as well as Latvian school at the weekends, later on he studied engineering mechanics.
Since 1964 Ēriks Otto works in theaters. He started working for the National Theatre London in 1971 but from 1981 to 1988 he was a lighting technician at the English National Opera. He was the leading lighting designer for Verdi’s “The Sicilian Vespers” and Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers” at the ENO. From 1988 to 2013 Otto worked at the Royal Opera House in London.
His works at the Latvian National opera include opera “The Prodigal Son” by Romualds Kalsons and Giuseppe Verdi’s “Nabucco” in 1996. He has been a lighting director for the Symphonic Music concerts at the Latvian National Opera during the XXII and XXII Latvian Song Festivals (1998 and 2003).