He was arrested as a Naxalite prisoner in 1982 along with Vijaya Kumaratunga for printing the "Rice ration book". In 1986, he negotiated with the LTTE for a peaceful solution for the ethnic conflict and for the release of the Sri Lankan soldiers who was captured. After the death of his close friend Vijaya Kumaratunga, founder of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party, he became the leader in 1988 until his death in 1994. He contested the presidential election in 1989, creating the United Socialist Alliance (USA). During the 1989 youth insurrection in Sri Lanka, there were several failed assassination attempts to his life. His political party lost the most members, 114 lives, during the insurrection. He was an excellent orator and a visionary political leader. In 1994 he was elected to parliament under the United National Party ticket.
Ossie Abeyagunasekera was married with one child, Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, who was the founding director general of the Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka.[5]