Obateru was born in 1950 into the royal family of Sir Frederick Adetolugbo at Ugbo, a riverine area in Ilaje. He is the fourth child of a family of eight but lost his father in 1964 when he was 14 years old.

In 1982, there was a prophecy that Obateru would become the Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom, a prophecy he never took seriously. Shortly after this prophecy, a chieftaincy title peculiar to him as the next Olugbo was conferred on his younger brother. This resulted in a lawsuit against the then-Olugbo by another royal family in the same lineage who demanded that he should be dethroned with the claim that his family had occupied the seat for over 200 years. The then-King lost the case and Obateru was appointed as the King in 2009, in accordance with the culture and traditions of Ugbo Kingdom.

Oba Obateru loves his kingdom. His reasons are valid for doing so. The Ugbo-Ilaje, a sub-ethnic group of the larger Yoruba culture who presently occupy the country’s western coastline of the Atlantic ocean with fishing as the mainstay of their economic activities, have been confirmed by various historical sources and through living traditions to be the original inhabitants of Ile-Ife who had been living in the ancient community centuries before the arrival of Oduduwa and his people from the East.

In March 2014 Forbes estimated his net worth as US$300 million.Obateru is ranked by Forbes magazine as the second richest King in Africa and the richest in Nigeria. He surpassed King Olubuse II, the Ooni of Ife, with $225 million and the Swaziland King Mswati III by over $200 million to become Africa's second richest king in 2014 behind Mohammed VI of Morocco. He has a custom built 2012 Rolls Royce similar to that of Queen Elizabeth II and on January 14, 2014, in an interview with Daily Post, he said "I have a $1 million watch, I use the same type of car like the Queen of England".

Obateru is the first black person to buy the 2014 model of Bentley automobile. In July 2013, in an interview with The Sun, Obateru said: "The first time I saw a car was 1961 in Sapele. At that time, Sir Festus Okotie-Eboh had a hotel in Sapele, Waterside Hotel. It was the first time I saw a hotel in my life. We used to describe hotels as bars. That was the first time I knew the difference between a hotel and a bar

On the13th day of September, 2019. Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN approved the constitution of a new Council and appointed Kabiyesi Olugbo of Ugbo, Oba (Dr.) Fredrick Eniolorunda Obateru Akinruntan, Okoro Ajija I, CON, as Chairman, Ondo State Council of Obas for a period of two years.