Raised in Lanarkshire, Cowan became interested in journalism after appearing on BBC Radio Scotland's young adult current affairs program Sunday Club.
He joined the Glasgow Herald as a copy-boy and was one of the first Scottish journalists to bring the Gaelic rock band Runrig to national attention.
Cowan then attended the pre-entry journalism course at Napier College in Edinburgh before joining the Inverness Courier.
He covered the actitivities of Canadian troops in Kosovo and Afghanistan before leaving the newspaper to write the non-fiction books How the Scots Created Canada and Scottish Military Disasters.
As a freelance writer, Cowan has contributed to most of the major media outlets in the United Kingdom and Canada.