[1] During the Japanese occupation of Malaya in 1943, Bogaars was forced to relocate from Singapore to Bahau with his father and his younger brother, Brian.

[1][3] The Bogaars spent three-and-a-half years in Bahau and lived off their own farm produce, which included maize, sweet potatoes, and tapioca.

[6] Bogaars had hoped to pursue an academic career but in 1952, at his father's insistence,[3] he joined the Ministry of Commerce and Industry as a new member of the Administrative Service.

[5] On 1 August 1961, Bogaars succeeded Eric John Linsell as director of the Ministry of Home Affairs' Special Branch,[7] becoming the first Singaporean without any prior experience in intelligence to assume the role.

[5] While at the Ministry of Defence, Bogaars played a crucial role in the establishment of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) and its training institute.

According to Lim Kim San, Bogaars's departure from the Ministry of Defence was due to his failure to restrict the conscription of Malays into the SAF—an especially sensitive issue following the 1969 race riots of Singapore.

Lee Kuan Yew elaborated in his memoirs: We had over-recruited Malays into the SAF ... George Bogaars, then PS MID and one of our most trusted officers, had been Special Branch Director where he learnt to distrust the Chinese-educated because nearly all communists were Chinese educated.

A young Lieutenant Colonel, Edward Yong, implemented a plan that over several years reduced the proportion of Malays, mainly by recruiting more non-Malays.

[15] After retiring from public service on 25 October 1981,[10] Bogaars took on directorships at several other companies, including Acma Electrical Industries, Chemical Far East,[16] DBS Bank, and the National Iron and Steel Mills.