Omi Vaidya was born into a Marathi family living in Yucca Valley, California. Drawn to acting from an early age, he would perform in Marathi nataks whenever his family visited Mumbai during the holidays. He attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts before going on to study at the University of California, Santa Cruz. During his sophomore year in college, Vaidya decided to pursue a career in film more seriously and transferred to the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. While at Tisch, he immersed himself in the art of filmmaking, taking classes in editing, writing, production and of course, acting. After completing his graduation, Omi was signed on by an agent and started getting small roles in television shows and commercials. He was first noticed in the role of Rav Nadir on the popular sitcom Arrested Development (2005). The same casting director asked him to audition for the role of Sadiq on the highly successful TV sitcom The Office. His character featured in two episodes, ‘E-mail Surveillance’ (2005) and ‘Fun Run’ (2007). Soon, Vaidya was making regular guest appearances on television shows like Greek (2008), CSI (2008) and Bones (2008). He also featured in the music video of the hit Punjabi song ‘Kurti’ by Bohemia in 2006.

Despite his small success on American television, Omi Vaidya was still a little known actor when he turned up for an audition for Rajkumar Hirani’s blockbuster 3 Idiots (2009). Hirani was keen on an NRI actor for the part of Chatur Ramalingam and after Omi’s impressive audition he was immediately offered the role. Chatur, or ‘Silencer’ as he is best remembered, became one of the most iconic comedic characters seen on celluloid in recent times. Vaidya’s performance not only had the audience in splits, but also won him the IIFA and Screen Awards for Best Debut that year.

Given his strong performance in a comedic role, he was instantly flooded with offers for similar parts. However, Vaidya insisted that he did not want to be typecast by playing another Chatur. In 2011, he was seen in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji followed by the hit comedy Desi Boyz. He also played a supporting role in the less successful Players (2012) and Jodi Breakers (2012).
While Vaidya has found success in the Hindi film industry, he continues to act in American TV shows like Rules of Engagement (2013). He has also acted, edited and directed various short films and was the subject of the documentary Big in Bollywood (2011), which followed his struggle as an actor and his eventual stardom with the release of 3 Idiots.

Omi Vaidya married Minal Patel on 22 August, 2009.