A Haskell Institute football player, Orien Crow went on to become the center for the Boston Redskins for two seasons.

He went on to work for the Bureau of Indian Affairs for many years, starting in 1933 as a clerical worker at the Fort Totten Agency in North Dakota. In 1935 he moved to the Truxton Canyon Agency in Valentine, Arizona becoming the supervisor in 1942.

Four years later Orien also became the superintendent of three other Indian agencies for 11 years. In June 1957 he was named assistant to the bureau's commissioner for resources, rising to become head commissioner of the realty branch in 1961, the first Native American to serve in that post since 1871.