Cika wannan jumla: Daga 1982 zuwa 1990 Cowen shi ne Provost na Oriel College, Oxford. Bayan ya yi ritaya ya koma Ostiraliya kuma ya zama mai aiki a cikin al'amuran al'ummar Yahudawa a Melbourne. Ya kuma bi wasu abubuwan da suka shafi wasu, ciki har da yin aiki na tsawon shekaru biyar a hukumar Fairfax Newspapers (uku daga cikinsu a matsayin Shugaban) a lokacin tashin hankali ga kamfanin; kuma ya kasance mai kula da kungiyar kwallon kafa ta St Kilda. A lokacin jagorancin zuwa
1999 zaben raba gardama na Australiya, ya goyi bayan matsakaicin matsayin jamhuriya.