He was an industrial chemist, and founded his cosmetics and toiletries manufacturing company Wilfrid Owen New Zealand Limited in 1938.

In the early 1930s he developed an interest in the monetary reform ideas of C. H. Douglas and joined the Social Credit association.

[1] The main impact he achieved as leader was induce the government to establish the Royal Commission on Money and Baking in 1956 to investigate Social Credits claims that the country's financial system was malfunctioning.

For that and for the criticism of Social Credit by the Royal Commission (which Owen had not attended, as he was overseas) he was criticised at the 1958 conference, and he resigned from the leadership shortly after in 1959.

[4] The Social Credit Party suffered a very public split between supporters of leader Vernon Cracknell and his deputy John O'Brien.

Owen surprisingly sided with O'Brien who eventually lead a walkout and formed the splinter New Democratic Party.