Guy Owen, Jr., was born on February 24, 1925, in Clarkton, Bladen County, North Carolina. He graduated from Clarkton High School in 1942, and worked at assorted odd jobs before joining the Army in 1943, serving in France and Germany. He returned to the United States in 1945 to attend the University of North Carolina, where he majored in English. In 1952, Owen married Dorothy Meadows Jennings of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. He received his Ph.D. in 1955.

Owen's first teaching experience was as instructor of English at Davidson College from 1949 to 1951. He also taught part-time at the University of North Carolina from 1951 to 1954, while completing his dissertation, and was associate professor of English at Elon College during the 1954-1955 school year.

In 1955, Owen accepted the position of associate professor of English at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida; he taught there until 1961. During this time, he wrote his first novel, , which was published in 1960.

Owen became a member of the faculty at North Carolina State College (later North Carolina State University) in Raleigh in 1961, remaining there until his death twenty years later. While teaching American literature and creative writing courses, he completed and published three novels, two volumes of poems, and a collection of short stories. He also helped edit two anthologies of verse: and .

In 1958, Owen co-founded the poetry magazine , which in 1965 became . He was also an editor of .

Owen died of cancer in July 1981, at age 56.