Owen's other interests include the Center for Christian Study and Mars Hill Audio.  He lives in Charlottesville with his wife and three children.  He grew up mostly in Raleigh and is a graduate of New Bern (N.C.) Senior High School.

He is related to N.C. Governor John Owen (1787-1841), a Whig who could have been U.S. President.

He is unrelated to John Owen the Puritan divine, or Robert Owen the Welsh socialist.