Owens joined the New South Wales Police Force in 1981, performing general duties and investigative roles at Rose Bay, Waverley, Bondi and Randwick.
Owens was appointed by the Governor of New South Wales as the State Emergency Operations Controller in December 2007 until August 2011 making him the longest serving appointee since the position was introduced in 1989.
[4] Owens oversaw response operations and supporting arrangements to a number of significant emergencies, both within New South Wales and abroad.
Owens was the corporate sponsor for the New South Wales Police Force Mental Health Intervention Team project and the Incident Command System training program.
After a career spanning over thirty years in the NSW Police Force, David Owens retired in 2012 on medical grounds.