Mauzo was born  to a Gaud Saraswat Brahmin family, in South Goa in the coastal village of Majorda. His primary education was in the Marathi and Portuguese languages, while his secondary education was in English. He studied at the New Era High School in Margao.

Damodar Mauzo after his graduation returned to Goa to run his family shop, this kept him close to the people of his village which is predominantly Catholic. This influence is obvious in his writing which is an authentic depiction of the life of Catholic people in Goa. He began his writing career with short stories with the first collection Ganthon published in the year 1971.So far he has authored five short story collections with Sapon Mogi in 2014 being the latest.

He has been presented at the Goa Film Festival the Best Screenplay Award for Aleesha and the Best Dialogues Award for Shitoo and O Maria. His stories have also been televised on the Indian national television. He critiqued stories appearing in the daily Sunaparant which was a premier Konkani daily. Although his creative output is in Konkani, he regularly writes in English for various local and national journals and periodicals. In 1985, he presided over the Akhil Bharatiya Konkani Sahitya Sammelan, which is an All India literary Conference. The Ministry of Culture, Government of India awarded him the Senior Fellowship in 2011-12 for the project on Pre and Post Colonial History of Konkani Literature.