Profesor Omar  is now a Profesor in Marine Technology in the School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti teknologi Malaysia and a Research Fellow at UTM Marine Technology Centre.

He started his career at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) as an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Thermal Fluids, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in August 1983. While in the service he continued his studies and completed a Masters Degree in Marine Technology in 1987 and a Ph.D in Seakeeping Design in 1999 at the University of Newcastle. He was appointed an Associate Professor in 2000 and a Professor in 2011.

In the early stages of his career at UTM, Professor Omar focussed on teaching and R&D in the fields of naval architecture, ship design, hydrodynamics, marine transportation, management and operation. In the early 2000s, he moved on to pioneer a new field in Malaysia: ocean renewable energy and marine environment. His acknowledged experience and expertise in this field led to an invitation to represent Malaysia  in a forum on ocean renewable energy at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York in 2012. He has also represented Malaysia several times at meetings of the World Maritime Organisation (IMO) on marine environment protection since 2010.

He has held the post of Head of the Marine Panel (1989-1999), Head of the Department of Thermal Fluids (1990-1992), Head of the Marine Technology Laboratory (1999-2007), Head of the Department of Marine Technology (2007-2010) ,  Deputy Dean (Academic) from 2010 to 2012 and Deputy Dean (Research and Innovation) in 2017.

Professor Omar is currently the elected Chairman of UTM Professor Council and  an elected member of the UTM Senate since 2013. In April 2019, he was elected as the Senate representative member of  the UTM Board of Directors.

At the national level, he has been appointed as a  member of the National Advisory Council for Education (MPPK), Ministry of Education,   member of the National Task Force  on Marine Environment, Ministry of Transport,  Founding Member of the Technical Advisory and Consultative Committee, Ship Classification Malaysia,   Member of Technical Committee of Malaysian Ship Owners Association (MASA), and member of the Malaysian Government Expert Group for International Maritime Organisation Gas Emission Control.

At the international level, the Royal Institution of Naval Architects appointed him as a Fellow in 2010 and the UK Engineering Council accorded him a Chartered Engineer status in the same year. He was recently appointed as a member of the Marine Environment Committee of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects. In addition, he was also appointed as an Associate of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia.

He has represented Malaysia in many meetings at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) dealing with energy efficiency and the environment.  He is one of the founding member of South East Asia Collaboration on Ocean Renewable Energy (SEAcORE), a member of IOC-Westpac Working Group on Marine Renewable Energy as well as a permanent member of the  the Organising Committee of Asian Wave and Tidal Energy Conference series (AWTEC).