Owen was born in Darwin and is of Anglo–Aboriginal descent. He studied Arts/Law at the University of New South Wales before leaving to work in Hong Kong and then London. Owen worked in an Aboriginal community and at an Aboriginal college before being accepted to Qantas in 2001. The September 11 attacks resulted in an unprecedented downturn in the travel market that delayed his start but he was employed as a casual and in the domestic division before transferring to the international division in 2004. He became a first-class flight attendant and went to work in London for the opening of the new international base in 2005–06. He lived in Brussels.
Owen returned to Australia to continue his flying career post London and continued flying internationally. Owen suffered a workplace injury, breaking his back in three places. After a period of rehabilitation, he intermittently returned to flying but could no longer take the long, manual and tiring conditions of an international ‘hostie’. He has since put his energy and time into writing and retired from Qantas in 2013.
Along the way Owen has travelled to over forty countries on six continents and among the countless people he has met are Princess Anne and other royalty, political and religious leaders, and celebrities including Katy Perry, Russell Brand, Kylie Minogue, Lily Allen, Cate Blanchett, Kelly Osborne, Venus Williams, Lisa Raymond, Casey Dellacqua and Caroline Wozniacki, plus bands Franz Ferdinand and Oasis.
Currently, Owen is writing, working with charity Beyondblue, and still recovering from his injury. He has signed with an agency in New York and lives between Sydney and a country home in Grafton.
