[2] Owen graduated with a BA from Williams College in 1965, where he was a merit scholar, and subsequently earned his PhD in Economics from Stanford University in 1970.

[3] Owen acted as chief economist in the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy in 1971 before returning to Stanford University in 1973 to serve as assistant professor of economics.

In 1978, Owen moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he briefly taught at Duke University as associate professor of business and law.

During this time, Owen was an Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies fellow and chairman of the task force on the future of the United States Postal Service.

[5] In 1979, Owen became chief economist of the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice, where he played a key role in the ultimate deregulation of AT&T.