Owen trained horses in her youth and traveled in the Racing Fair Circuit along with her family. They lived in California during winters. Owen attended Seattle University and San Francisco State University. In 1965, she moved to Japan, and then to New York. Owen was co-director of the St. Mark's Poetry Project (1976-1980) in New York City. She is the editor and publisher of Telephone Books. Owen is currently living in Denver and is a teacher at the Naropa University.
Her papers are held at University of California, San Diego.