Frank Owen was born in Hereford on 4 November 1905, the son of innkeeper Thomas Humphrey Owen and Cicely Hannah Green. He was educated at Monmouth School See more

In 1929 he volunteered to assist Liberal Party headquarters in London with election propaganda. At the eleventh hour he was selected as Liberal candidate for his home constituency of See more

He worked as a journalist on the South Wales Argus (1928–29), the Daily Express (1931–37) and was editor of the Evening Standard (1938–41). He was strongly anti-Nazi, and during the years of appeasement he made a feature of rewriting See more