Being a Dynamo Moscow pupil, Sergei Ovchinnikov started his senior career at Dynamo Sukhumi but after a year he joined Lokomotiv Moscow. In 1992, he asserted himself in Yuri Syomin's first choice squad and remained the main goalkeeper until his move to Benfica in 1997.
The goalkeeper played two matches for Russia in Euro 2004 but was sent off in the match against Portugal for handling outside the area.
In 2005 Ovchinnikov joined Dynamo Moscow, following former Loko coach Yuri Syomin. In 2006 Dynamo released Ovchinnikov, after the goalkeeper got involved in a clash with a referee Igor Zakharov.
Coaching career
In April 2007 Sergei Ovchinnikov became Lokomotiv Moscow club goalkeeping coach and started to work with children and the reserves. In December 2007, he became Yuri Syomin's assistant at Dynamo Kyiv.