Öhquist joined the Jaeger Movement in 1915 and trained and fought in the Royal Prussian 27th Jäger Battalion. During the Finnish Civil War he was promoted as Major, and Öhquist lead the White Guard battalion in the battle of Viipuri. In 1930, he was promoted as Major General, and three years later he was the Commander of the Army on the Karelian Isthmus. In 1949 Öhquist published a book of the Winter War named "The Winter War from my point of view" (). Two years later he resigned from the army.