Benjamin Ortner was born in Innsbruck, Austria on March 16, 1983.
He starts out playing for the only Austrian basketball club in the area. Ornter makes his debut in the NCAA’s Second Division with Metropolitan State College in Denver, improving his performance each year through to a final season of 15.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg and 1.4 assists per game. In 2002, he wins the NCAA Divison 2 title. In 2005-2006, he comes to Reggio Emilia in Italy, where he plays two A Series championships and one Legadue. During his two seasons in the highest series, he registers 7.8 ppg and 4.2 rpg on average, while his numbers for 2006-2007 are 12.9 ppg and 6.8 rpg, with 58.9 % on 2’s. In 2005-2006, he participates in the Uleb Cup with Bipop Carire, finishing out the experience with an average of 5.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg and 1.1 blocks. Ortner ends the 2007-2008 season in Legadue with 30 games, 13.4 ppg and 6.8 rpg. His return to the A Series in 2008-2009 is with Snaidero Udine, whom he guarantees 9.7 ppg and 5.1 rpg. He moves to Cantù in 2009 and averages 10.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 2.0 steals per game, helping is team make the title semifinals. The 2010-2011 is just as good, with an average of 9.2 ppg, and he makes both the Coppa Italia and the title finals with Bennet. Last season, 2011-12, after starting off with Cantù, he switched to Benetton Treviso and closed out the championship with an average of 9.1 points in 22.6 minutes of court time. At the end of the championship, left Italy to sign with Germany’s LTi Giessen, totaling 11 ppg and 5.8 rpg in 4 games before coming to Montepaschi on October 18, 2012. In February he won the Italian Cup.