A portable indirect fuel fired heater includes a burner assembly having a fuel burner to deliver fuel from a fuel supply to a combustion chamber of the heater and a combustion air blower to deliver combustion air to the combustion chamber with the fuel for combustion in the combustion chamber to produce exhaust gases. A heat exchanger receives air to be heated in heat exchanging relationship with at least a portion of the combustion chamber. A sensor senses an oxygen level as a partial pressure of oxygen in the exhaust gases. A controller operates an actuator operatively connected to the burner assembly to controllably vary the delivery rate of combustion air and thus vary the ratio of the air and fuel responsive to the oxygen level sensed by the combustion sensor so as to maintain the sensed oxygen level at a prescribed set point level stored on the controller.