O’Donnell learned his bowling skills in St. Louis and soon developed enough skill to join the then famous Hermann Undertakers, one of the nation’s crack teams of the era. He moved to Detroit in 1945 and was a standout on such teams as the E & B Beer and Pfeiffer Beer for six years before returning to St. Louis where he joined the famous Budweiser team of Don Carter, Bill Lillard, Dick Weber, Ray Bluth and Tom Hennessey.

While with the E & B Beer team, he won the State Team title in 1950 and the State All Events title in 1947. Their team also won the ABC Team All Events title in 1949 and 1950. He was 3rd in the ABC Singles in 1949, 3rd in the ABC All Events in 1949 and also 3rd in the Team in 1949. He was 4th in the Masters in 1954 and also had a 6th place Classic Team finish and was 7th in Doubles with Bill Bunetta in 1950 . His 40-year ABC average is 195 and his Masters average is also 195.

His high average was 246 in 1961-62 for 84 games. This was in the St. Louis All Star Doubles League. His high series was 828 and he rolled five 300 games in his career.

Charles O’Donnell was inducted into the ABC Hall of Fame in 1968 and the Detroit Hall of Fame in 1985. He is also a member of the St. Louis and Missouri State Halls of Fame.