Uren was born on 7 January 1900 in West Hindmarsh, an inner-city suburb in Adelaide, South Australia to Malcolm Francis Uren and Millicent Jane Leggoe.
The Uren family then moved to Perth, the capital of Western Australia.
Uren married Lenora Emily Olive Stradwick (Klenk) on 25 August 1923.
Uren became a cadet journalist with the Perth-based Western Mail in 1920, and by 1941 was its editor.
[1] In 1965 Uren was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.