Born on Bermuda, Bowen later moved to the proprietary colony of Carolina, where he signed on an English ship, serving as a petty officer.

Bowen and the other English prisoners managed to seize the ship's longboat and they sailed the 15 leagues (45 miles) to St. Augustine.

Following Read's capture of a large Indian ship, Bowen returned to Madagascar and joined George Booth as a crewman.

[4][2]: 51  Following this, Bowen attacked a number of ships, including an English East Indiaman commanded by Captain Conway in November 1701, off the coast of Malabar.

After three months on the island, they were able to purchase a sloop and, after converting it into a brigantine (later renamed as the Content), he and his crew left and, upon arriving at Madagascar, founded a town and at fort Maratan.

In early 1702, Bowen and a number of pirates seized the Speedy Return, commanded by Captain Drummond, as well as the aged Brigantine Content (some sources say Continent), both owned by the Company of Scotland, which Drummond had planned to fill with slaves from Île Sainte-Marie to sale to Portuguese cocoa plantation owners in Africa.

Thomas Green and his crew were accused of piracy by a Scottish court, suspected in part of plundering the Speedy Return and killing its captain Robert Drummond.

Bowen's career as a pirate was later profiled by Captain Charles Johnson - commonly believed to be a pseudonym of Daniel Defoe - in A General History of the Pyrates.