Rabbi Yosef Ohayon was born in 1886 (5646) in Itzrar, in southern Morocco, to Esther and Rabbi Mordechai Ohayon, a Torah scholar who earned his living in trade.

As a young man he studied at the yeshiva in Iligh under Rabbi Shalom Amzalag, years spent in hardship and far from his parents' home. After completing his studies he married Sarah, daughter of Rabbi Makhlouf Swissa, and went into business while continuing to study Torah.

He later served as dayan and rabbi of the Jewish communities of Itzrar and Tiznit. His concentration in learning was so deep that valuables were taken from his home several times without his noticing, and many students gathered in his house to learn. As a mohel he travelled to remote villages to circumcise newborns without taking payment, and he helped poor families pay for the brit meal. His mastery of Kabbalah earned him a reputation as a wonder-worker throughout the region.

Works: Avkat Rochel, a two-volume collection of derashot printed in Casablanca during his lifetime, and Imrei Yosef. Other manuscripts, including a work on the Shulchan Aruch, were lost.

He passed away on 29 Av 5716 (August 6, 1956) and was buried in Tiznit. His sons-in-law were Rabbi Yaish Cohen and Rabbi David Swissa. In 2002, through the Od Yosef Chai foundation established by his grandson Rabbi Yaakov Cohen, his remains were reinterred in the old cemetery of Tzfat.