Born to a wealthy family from Kwang-tung Province, Ou Hao-nien was surrounded as a child by a rich collection of paintings and calligraphy, and elderly artists supported by the family served as his first tutors. The boundless fields of the family estate provided him with a place to wander in, daydream, and observe the multiple facets of nature.
收藏頗豐的名家字畫以及家中供養的老畫家，是歐豪年的「啟蒙師」，而祖業中連波萬頃的魚塘和曠遠無垠的草原，更為歐豪年提供一個可以徜遊、幻想，乃至觀察生命百態的好場所。